Supreme Court costs (accommodation/travel/subsistence): FOI release

Information requested

In relation to the costs associated with the Lord Advocate’s referral to the Supreme Court (https://www.gov.scot/publications/independence-referendum-supreme-court-referral-legal-costs/) could you please provide a full breakdown of the travel and subsistence costs.

1. For all accommodation costs, please confirm who the accommodation was provided for, the name of the hotel/other accommodation provider, how many nights it was booked for, and what the total cost was.
2. For travel costs, please confirm who the travel was for, the method of travel and the cost.
3. For subsistence costs, please confirm each individual claim, including the provider and the costs.
4. If receipts are available for each of the above, please provide these.

Response

In relation to the costs associated with the Lord Advocate’s referral to the Supreme Court (https://www.gov.scot/publications/independence-referendum-supreme-court-referral-legal-costs/)) could you please provide a full breakdown of the travel and subsistence costs.

1. For all accommodation costs, please confirm who the accommodation was provided for, the name of the hotel/other accommodation provider, how many nights it was booked for, and what the total cost was.
2. For travel costs, please confirm who the travel was for, the method of travel and the cost.
3. For subsistence costs, please confirm each individual claim, including the provider and the costs.

Some of the information you have requested is included in Annex A of this letter.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exemption under section 39(1) (Health, safety and the environment) of FOISA applies to some of the information requested. The Lord Advocate is the head of the system of criminal prosecution, and for security reasons the exact location of her accommodation is not disclosed. This is a formal notice under Section 39(1) of FOISA that the disclosure of information relating to the Lord Advocate’s place of stay would, or would be likely to, endanger the physical or mental health or the safety of an individual. As such we have withheld the details of her accommodation and that of officials staying in the same location.

Additionally, an exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details of staff at grades below SCS, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. 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.

4. If receipts are available for each of the above, please provide these.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.

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The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

Annex A - 202200335464

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