First Minister's trip to Malawi and Zambia: FOI release

Information requested

1. Could you supply the full expenses from John Swinney's trip to Malawi and Zambia in October, including how many officials accompanied him, and their full expenses, including flight costs, accommodation and other expenses?
2. Could you supply all briefings and minutes/notes from meetings John Swinney held in Malawi and Zambia?

Response

In response to your first question, 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. The reasons why we do not have the information are explained below.

The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have asked for because a final full cost breakdown was not yet available at the date of your request. However, some of the information you have requested will be made available on the gov.scot website in due course. Information about

Ministerial engagements and overseas travel is proactively published by the Scottish Government. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. 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.

Regarding your second question, we enclose a copy of most of the information you requested as PDF attachments.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 30(b)(i) (substantial inhibition to free and frank provision of advice), 30(b)(ii) (substantial inhibition to free and frank exchange of views), 32(1)(a) (substantial prejudice to international relations), 33(1)(b) (commercial interests), and 38(1)(b) (personal information), 39(1) (endangerment to health or safety), and 41(a) (communications with the Royal Family and honours) of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why those exemptions apply are explained below.

Exemptions under sections 30, 32, 33, 39, and 41 of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested. This is because the information requested contains deliberation and the exchange of views in order to provide advice and guidance to the First Minister and/or senior officials, sensitive information relating to relations between the UK/Scotland and other countries, commercial interests, information in relation to the First Minister's security and travel, and communications with the Royal Family on matters of protocol respectively. Release of such information would likely cause substantial inhibition to the development of policy and provision of advice, substantial prejudice to relations with other countries, cause substantial prejudice to the commercial interests of any person/company, endangerment of the physical or mental health or safety of an individual and inhibit communications with the Royal Family on matters of protocol.

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. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because of interest in the Scottish Government international work. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in officials being able to develop policy, the effective conduct of public affairs, Scotland maintaining strong relations with other countries, not prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person/company, the safety of the First Minister and government maintaining good relations between the Scottish Government and the Royal Household.

Exemptions under section 38(1) of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested. This is because the information contains personal data. 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.

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 202500491454 - Information Released - Documents

File type

PDF

File size

1.9 MB