Brussels office St Andrews Day celebration: FOI release

Information requested

1. How much money was spent on the numerous St Andrews Day celebration events at the Scottish Governments Brussels Office. Breakdown of this spend.

2. Itinerary of Neil Gray the minister who attended the events in Brussels Including minutes taken from any meetings he had in Brussels.

3. Itinerary for Neil Gray’s trip to India including minutes taken from any meetings he held.

Response

I have attached the information you have requested.

On question 1, the Scottish Government hosted a St Andrews Day Concert and Reception in Brussels, on 30 November 2022. A breakdown of money spent is set out below. Your reference to ‘numerous’ St Andrews Day events may relate to the Scotland Europa St Andrews Lecture event on 29 November 2022, which Minister Neil Gray attended. This event was delivered by Scotland Europa Ltd and detail on costs associated with it are not held by the Scottish Government.

Category	Cost (euros)
Catering	5,483.79
Performer accommodation	1,899
Technical equipment	1,034.55
Performer travel and fee	3,987.45
Security	250
Total	12,654.79

Itineraries and meeting notes for Mr Gray’s visits to Brussels and India are enclosed in attachment  1.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA) applies to  some of the information you have requested. Section 38 of FOISA contains four exemptions, all  relating to personal information. Information is exempt from disclosure if it is:

• the personal data of the person requesting the information (section 38(1)(a));
• the personal data of  a third party (section 38(1)(b));
• personal census information (section 38(1)(c)); or
• a deceased person's health record (section 38(1)(d)).

The exemptions in sections 38(1)(a) and (b) regulate the relationship between FOISA, the UK General  Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

An exemption under section 32(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA) applies to  some of the information you have requested. Under section 32(1)(a) of FOISA, information is exempt  from disclosure if disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially:

• relations between the UK and any other State;
• relations between the UK and any international organisation or international court;
• the interests of the UK abroad; or
• the promotion or protection by the UK of its interests abroad.

In this instance, redactions have been applied to meeting notes relating to the UK Government and  EU’s approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol. the war in Ukraine, the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation  Agreement; and to comments about a legal case in India. 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 exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. This information has been withheld as its publication could impact the interests of the UK abroad.

An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA) applies to some of the information you have requested. Information is exempt under section 33(1)(b) if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. “Person” includes a public authority, company and partnership. In this instance, the exemption applies to discussion about Indian state government and companies’ commercial strategies. 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 exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.

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FOI 202200333610 - Information released

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23 page PDF

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