Education Scotland foreign travel statistics: FOI release

Information requested

1. The number of foreign trips that Education Scotland has paid for between 1 July 2011 and 22 February 2022. In short, the number of foreign trips that Education Scotland has sent staff on.

2. The amount that these foreign trips that Education Scotland has paid for between 1 July 2011 and 22 February 2022 has costed. In short, the total cost of these foreign trips that Education Scotland has sent staff on.

Response

Information on foreign travel up to 31 March 2015 is available on the Education Scotland website under the heading Public Services Reform.

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

Please see the table below which provides you with the number of foreign trips that Education Scotland has sent staff on and the total costs of these trips.

Financial Year	No. of Foreign Travel Trips	Foreign Travel Costs	Other Costs
2015-16	34	£18,383.50	£11,616.71
2016-17	43	£13,462.77	£0
2017-18	41	£17,800.87	£0
2018-19	47	£20,006.38	£0
2019-20	28	£10,653.84	£0
2020-21	0	£0	£0
2021-22	1	£169.50	£469.38

Please note that no foreign travel was undertaken during financial year 2020-21. The costs for travel and accommodation in financial year 2021-22 were reimbursed by the Standing International Conference of Inspectorates (SICI).

The ‘other costs’ for financial year 2015-16 are made up of accommodation, conference fees and travel and subsistence costs, however, these costs were not gathered centrally for other financial years.

About FOI

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.