Tartan week costs and expenses 2023: FOI release

Information requested

Who the Scottish Government paid the expenses of to attend Tartan week in New York 2023. This includes Government Ministers, MSP's, civil servants and any other individuals e.g Kelly Given. The list should include the costs of individual flights, accommodation (Hotel and number of nights) and subsistence.

Response

Please see below a table outlining most of the answer to your request.

Official	Transport	Accommodation costs (converted to GBP)	Total Cost (pp)	Total nights at Westin Hotel, Times Square (New York)
Deputy Director	£1,476.00 (Return flight)	£846.99	£2,322.99	3
Policy Official	£586.21 (Return flight)	£1,169.44	£1,755.65	5
Comms Official	£921.41 (Return flight)	£935.55	£1,856.96	4
Policy Official	£862.71 (Return flight)	£1,169.44	£2,032.15	5
Private Secretary	£922.21 (Return flight)	£1,169.44	£2,091.65	5
US Office - Policy Official	N/A	£701.66	£701.66	3
US Office - Policy Official	£51.67 (Parking)	£1,169.44	£1,221.11	5
US Office - Policy Official	£151.55 (Train)	£701.66	£853.21	3
US Office - Policy Official	£106.94 (Train)	£701.66	£808.60	3
US Office - Head of Scottish Government Office	£286.65 (Train)	£1,169.44	£1,456.09	5
Total cost	£5,365.35	£9,734.72	£15,100.07

The Scottish Government does not hold some of the information you have asked for because information relating to the subsistence expenses of support officials were not held on the date of your request.

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

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested regarding the travel of the Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs because an exemption under Section 27(1) Information intended for future publication of FOISA applies to that information.

This exemption applies as details of ministerial engagements, travel and gifts will be published within the next 12 weeks and will be available when published at the link below. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

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 interest in Ministerial travel. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in minimising the resource implications of the duplication of work.

Regarding your request for information relating to MSP travel, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because the Scottish Government does not hold information regarding the travel of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). However, you may wish to contact the Scottish Parliament at info@parliament.scot who may be able to help you. 

The Scottish Government only covered the costs of Scottish Government staff and Ministers to travel to New York for Tartan Week in April 2023.

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