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

Information requested

You asked for the following details of all foreign travel undertaken by Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson from 1 January 2023 to 23 December 2025:

• Dates of travel
• Destinations
• Purpose of visit
• Number of accompanying officials
• Breakdown of costs including flights (class of travel, cost per person), accommodation (hotel names, nightly rates, total nights), ground transportation, meals and hospitality, security costs and other expenses
• Individuals/organisations met
• Agreements, MoUs or outcomes
• Follow-up actions or policy changes resulting from the visit

You also asked for the total annual expenditure on ministerial foreign travel for this portfolio for each year from 2020-present.

Response

Details of Ministerial visits, including dates of travel, number of supporting officials and total costs, are published proactively - https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.

For the following visits, I enclose in Annex A a copy of most of the policy information you requested, including who the Cabinet Secretary met, the outcomes and follow-up actions:

• 31 May - 2 June 2023 – Belgium
• 26-27 July 2023 – Ireland
• 22-29 November 2023 – China
• 23-25 January 2024 – Belgium
• 19-21 March 2024 – Denmark
• 7-8 May 2024 – Germany
• 23-25 January 2025 – Denmark and Sweden
• 5 – 7 February 2025 – Belgium
• 23-24 June 2025 – Germany
• 17-19 September 2025 – Germany
• 26-28 November 2025 – Switzerland and Germany

Information related to Mr Robertson’s visit to China (22-29 November 2023) has previously been released in FOI 202300389354 - Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture trip to China: FOI release - gov.scot. Mr Robertson visited Beijing, Kunming and Shanghai to strengthen our political, economic, cultural, educational and social relationships with China, in keeping with our values.

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 listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

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 202500499472 - Information Released - Annex A

File type

PDF

File size

155.9 kB