Cost of MS Victoria to house Ukrainian refugees: FOI release

Information requested

The "agreed cost the Scottish Government (The taxpayers) are paying for the MS Victoria per day/week/person" and "any additional costs that have been agreed to be paid over and above the set rate".

Response

The Scottish Government’s contractor Corporate Travel Management (North) Ltd (CTM) has been awarded a contract with a value of up to £100 million with a start date of 8 July 2022 and an end date of 12 December 2024.

The contract award notice with CTM, which is in the public domain, is to source and provide travelrelated services for displaced people from Ukraine which includes accommodation in hotels and on the M/S Victoria I and M/S Ambition.

The costs of the scheme are being responsibly managed in line with the Scottish Government’s normal financial procedures.

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) 33(1)(b) –Substantial prejudice to commercial interests of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption(s) applies are explained in the Annex.

ANNEX A
REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

An exemption applies, subject to the public interest test
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) – Substantial prejudice to commercial interests of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested.

Section 33(1)(b) – Substantial prejudice to commercial interests - Information is exempt under section 33(1)(b) if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. “Person” includes a public authority, company and partnership. 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.

The Scottish Government is continuing to look at all accommodation options for displaced people from Ukraine, which could include negotiations for a further passenger ship from another supplier. It would therefore not be in the interest of the Scottish Government and public finances to reveal details of the costs negotiated with the supplier of M/S Victoria.

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