First Minister's visit to Washington DC - Interactions with Lord Peter Mandelson: FOI release

Information requested

I am writing to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This request concerns First Minister John Swinney's visit to Washington DC between 7-10 September 2025, his interactions with Lord Peter Mandelson (then UK Ambassador to the United States), and any knowledge or discussions regarding Lord Mandelson's links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Please provide the following information:

1) Details of any discussions, briefings, correspondence, or internal reports within the Scottish Government about Jeffrey Epstein in relation to Lord Peter Mandelson, including during the visit when Epstein-related emails were released (September 2025), subsequent audits or reviews ordered by the First Minister in 2026, and any knowledge of Mandelson's sacking, police investigations, or leaks of market-sensitive information to Epstein. 

2) The full costs associated with the visit, including flights, accommodation (noting the stay at the Ambassador's residence), subsistence, and expenses for the First Minister and all accompanying officials, delegation members from the Scotch Whisky Association, and any other participants. 

3) Any post-visit reports, debriefings, or evaluations of the trip, including outcomes from meetings with US officials, President Trump, and Lord Mandelson, and any references to the emerging Epstein scandal.

4) All correspondence between the Scottish Government and the UK Government (including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Cabinet Office, or Number 10) regarding Lord Mandelson's appointment, his links to Epstein, and arrangements for the First Minister's stay and meetings during the visit.

Response

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 of FOISA under sections s.17- notice that the information is not held and s.25 (1) – otherwise publicly available.

The attached annex includes some of the information you have requested. This includes emails about the First Minister’s instruction to conduct an audit of the Scottish Government’s interactions with Lord Mandelson in response to part one of the request. In response to part four I have included emails about the planning of the visit, arrangements for the breakfast meeting with Lord Mandelson and arrangements for the First Minister’s stay at the residence. The following exemptions have been applied to information in that annex, s.28(1) - relations with the UK, s.32(1)(a)(i) – relations with another state, s.33(1)(b) – commercial interests and s.38 (1)(b) – personal information.

The reasons why those exemptions apply are explained below.

FOISA Exemptions

An exemption under section 17 – notice that the information is not held – applies to some of the information in this request. This includes information about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and information about Lord Mandelson’s sacking, police investigations, leaks of marketsensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein or information about his appointment as UK Ambassador to the Washington.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested and are therefore unable to provide any information in answer to that part of your request.

An exemption under section 25 (1) –information otherwise accessible – applies to some of the information in this request. This means some of the information is in the public domain and already reasonably accessible to you. This includes costs of the visit for the First Minister and Special Advisers which is published proactively by the Scottish Government, costs for officials which was published in response to a previous FOI request and a post visit report about the First Minister’s engagements in Washington.

Links to that information can be found below;

Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot
FOI+202500483907+-+Information+Released+-+Annex+A.pdf.
Talks at the White House - gov.scot

An exemption under section 28 (1) – relations with the UK - applies to information in the attached annex.

This includes sections of email chains about the planning of the visit, arrangements for the breakfast meeting with Lord Mandelson and arrangements for the First Minister’s stay at the residence.

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 release because of the interest in disclosing information as part of an open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining our relations with the UK on matters relating to government policy.

An exemption under section 32(1)(a)(i) – relations with another state - applies to information in the attached annex. This includes sections of the email’s chains about the planning of the visit, arrangements for the breakfast meeting with Lord Mandelson and arrangements for the First Minister’s stay at the residence.

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 release because of the interest in disclosing information as part of an open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the UK’s diplomatic relations with another state.

An exemption under section 33(1)(b) –commercial interests - applies to information in the attached annex. This includes sections of the email’s chains about the planning of the visit.

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 release because of the interest in disclosing information as part of an open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in the Scottish Government maintaining the confidence of businesses on sensitive commercial matters.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because some of the information you have requested is the personal data of third parties. 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 202600505179 - Information released - Annex

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