First Minister's trip to Croatia vs Scotland game: FOI release

Information requested

1. Whether the First Minister used a car from the government car service to travel to the Scotland vs Croatia game which he attended on 15 November 2024 and if so who accompanied him in the ministerial car.

2. Whether the Scottish Government has any minutes or notes recorded of the government business that was discussed during this trip and if so please provide these in full. In addition, please clarify who the First Minister met during his trip to the match.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.

For security reasons, the Scottish Government does not comment on the travel arrangements for the First Minister. An exemption under section 39(1) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested. This is because disclosure would, or would likely to, endanger the physical or mental health or safety of an individual. 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 the travel arrangements for the First Minister, however, this outweighed by the public interest in the safety of the First Minister. The First Minister was not accompanied by a guest at this engagement.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information because it relates to people below the grade of a senior civil servant.

About FOI

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

FOI 202500464271 - Information released - Annex

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