Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture overseas trips: FOI release

Information requested

"1. How many air miles has Angus Robertson racked up since becoming the cabinet secretary for the constitution in May 2021? Breakdown of these trips.

2. All minutes and briefings/notes taken during Angus Robertson's meeting with Bruno van der Pluijm on June 27.

3. All expense receipts submitted by those who attended Tartan Week 2023.

4. All correspondence between the UK Government and Angus Robertson, and his office, between July 2023 and the date of the FOI.

5. How did Angus Robertson get to Dublin on July 26 and how did he get back to Scotland, i.e what mode of transport did he use?"

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. You can find this information below and in the attached annexes.

"1. How many air miles has Angus Robertson racked up since becoming the cabinet secretary for the constitution in May 2021? Breakdown of these trips."

Travel date	From	To	Mileage
17/12/2021	Edinburgh	Paris C.d Gaull	543
08/03/2022	Edinburgh	Dublin	209
09/03/2022	Dublin	Edinburgh	209
03/04/2022	Edinburgh	Toronto	4253
09/04/2022	New York Newark	Edinburgh	3244
20/04/2022	Edinburgh	Munich	901
22/04/2022	Munich	Edinburgh	827
30/05/2022	Edinburgh	Brussels	934 (return trip)
02/06/2022	Brussels	Edinburgh	532
29/08/2022	Edinburgh	Ljubljana	1125
03/10/2022	Edinburgh	Paris C.d Gaull	1086 (return trip)
12/10/2022	Edinburgh	Reykjavik
15/10/2022	Reykjavik Kefla	Dublin	927
15/10/2022	Dublin	Edinburgh	209
10/12/2023	London Heathrow	Edinburgh	331
31/01/2023	Edinburgh	Tromso	2596 (return trip)
11/04/2023	Edinburgh	New York JFK	6494 (return trip)
14/05/2023	Edinburgh	Vienna	1057
16/05/2023	Vienna	Edinburgh	1026
31/05/2023	Edinburgh	Brussels	972 (return trip)
26/07/2023	Edinburgh	Dublin	418 (return trip)

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reason for this is we do not hold information regarding the mileage of one flight.

"2. All minutes and briefings/notes taken during Angus Robertson's meeting with Bruno van der Pluijm on June 27."

Please find the requested information in Annex A and Annex B.

Exemptions under sections 32(1)(a) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The reason section 32(1)(a) applies is because release of this information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the interests of the UK abroad. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because of interest in ministerial meetings. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring the interests of the UK abroad are not jeopardised.

Section 38(1)(b) applies because disclosing the personal data would contravene the data protection principles of Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

"3. All expense receipts submitted by those who attended Tartan Week 2023."

The information you have requested is available from Scottish Government Publications which you can find here: Tartan week expenses 2023: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

"4. All correspondence between the UK Government and Angus Robertson, and his office, between July 2023 and the date of the FOI."

You can find the correspondence within scope of your request included in Annexes C, D and E.

"5. How did Angus Robertson get to Dublin on July 26 and how did he get back to Scotland, i.e what mode of transport did he use?"

The answer to your question is that the Cabinet Secretary travelled to and from Dublin on July 26 by aeroplane.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202300374239 - Information Released - Annex A and B

File type

8 page PDF

File size

161.0 kB

FOI 202300374239 - Information Released - Annex C, D and E

File type

5 page PDF

File size

1.1 MB