Constitution, External Affairs and Culture trips outwith UK: FOI release

Information requested

Regarding Angus Robertson MSP Cabinet Secretary or Constitution, External Affairs and Culture:

1. since 1 March 2023 and  until 10 May 2023, how many trips has Mr Robertson made outwith the UK?
2. where can the Cabinet Secretary's report on each these trips be found?

Response

In response to your first question, the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Angus Robertson MSP, travelled to one country outside of the UK in his ministerial capacity between the dates of 1 March 2023 to 10 May 2023. This visit was to New York for Tartan Week in April 2023.

Regarding reports on international visits, the Cabinet Secretary does not publish a report on each international visit, however the visit programme and meeting summaries for the 2023 Tartan Week visit have been published in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. You can find this here:

Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson's trip to Tartan Week: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish Government officials have also summarised this visit. This report can be found in Annex A.

Exemptions under sections s.33(1)(b) and s.30(b) of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested. These exemptions apply as release of information would, or would be likely to, cause substantial harm to the free and frank provision of advice or disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of a person or organisation.

These exemptions are 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 exemptions. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding both exemptions. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because of interest in the activity of Scottish Government Minister's overseas. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in allowing for the provision of advice and exchange of views, and for not acting counter to the commercial interests of people/organisations who invest in Scotland.

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 - 202300355924 - Information released - Annex A

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