Public speeches made by the First Minister from 7 May 2024: FOI release

Information requested

A full list of public speeches made by John Swinney since he became First Minister and the full costs of each of these speeches.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. I have interpreted your FOI as all public speeches made by the First Minister for parliament, stakeholder and Scottish Government led events from 7 May 2024 to 19 February 2026.

I have included final costings for relevant speeches that have incurred a cost for event set up and includes AV and catering. Under a nil return, this means no cost has been incurred by the Scottish Government or because we do not have the required information.

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 an exemption(s) under section(s) Section 17 (Notice that information is not held) or Section 27 (Information intended for future publications) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter.

Some of the information you have requested is available from Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot and First Minister's speeches - gov.scot. 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(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Annex

Reasons for not providing information

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because we do not hold information on staff costs, event set up and ministerial costs where applicable for travel and accommodation for each speech made by the First Minister. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

An exemption under section 27 of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. Under Section 27, this means that information you have requested is intended for future publication. This means that information on travel and accommodation costs found on Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot for January – February 2026 will be published at a later date. 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 need for an open and transparent government.

However, this is outweighed by the public interest in that the publication of this information is already an established and existing process and part of the Scottish Government’s website publishing schedule. There is a greater public interest in taking the time necessary to ensure the information has been properly collated and checked before it is published as planned. We see no public interest in disrupting our programme of work to release the information ahead of the intended publication date.

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 202600507294 - Information Released - Annex

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