Scottish Government staff travelling to the United States of America from June 2026: FOI release

Information requested

The following information in relation to any travel by Scottish Government staff — including the First Minister, John Swinney, Ministers, Special Advisers, and civil servants — to the United States of America, covering the period June 2026 to the date of your response:

1. The job title or role of each individual who travelled (or is scheduled to travel), without the need to provide personal names other than those of Ministers or Special Advisers acting in an official capacity.

2. The purpose of each trip, including any meetings attended, events represented, or official duties carried out.

3. The total cost associated with each individual’s travel, broken down where possible into:

a) Flights including class details
b) Accommodation
c) Subsistence/per diems
d) Any other associated costs (e.g. hospitality, ground transport)

4. Any internal communications (emails, briefing notes, or submissions) in which the First Minister or his office authorised or was briefed on travel.

Response

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

For points 1 and 3(a-d), an exemption has been applied to information relating to the estimated cost of the visit to the World Cup visits and related detail, including officials who attended in support of Ministers. It is our intention to publish this data within 12 weeks. This is a formal notice under Section 27(1) that the information is intended for future publication. 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 use of public funds to support this visit, and this will be met by our planned publication. In the meantime, 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. Also, we see no public interest in disrupting our programme of work to release the information ahead of the intended publication date.

For point 2, the First Minister and Maree Todd, Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs both travelled to the USA in an official capacity to support the national team at the World Cup and undertake a programme of engagements to strengthen trade, tourism, culture and diaspora relationships and seek to attract further inward investment in Scotland. The First Minister undertook a series of engagements in Boston and Kentucky from 12-15th June covering these areas and attended the Scotland vs Haiti match on 13th June. Ms Todd undertook a series of engagements in Miami and attended the Scotland vs Brazil game on 24th June. The attached document provides a list of all of those engagements.

In relation to point 4, please see the enclosed information. however some exemptions apply. Exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA have been applied throughout. Disclosing this information would contravene one or more of the data protection principles set out in Article 5 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. In particular, the individuals concerned would not reasonably expect their personal data to be disclosed into the public domain in response to a freedom of information request. This exemption is absolute and is therefore 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.

An exemption under section 29(1)(d) of FOISA (Ministerial private office) applies to some of the information requested because it relates to the operation of any Ministerial private office. 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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, to ensure private offices operate efficiently and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing Private Offices a private space to engage with their minister on logistics.

The Scottish Government does not comment on travel and security 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'. Taking account of all 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 security arrangements for the First Minister’s engagements. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in the safety of the First Minister.

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 202600521687 - Information Released - Annex

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