Patrick Harvie MSP foreign trips: FOI release

Information requested

Information regarding Patrick Harvie's trip to Rome in October last year including how many civil servants attended with him and what their job titles were; the number of civil servants who attended the full trip including to London, Paris and Basil, and the mode of transport used to travel to and from Rome; expenses and itinerary for each civil servant who attended the trip to Rome and; expenses and itinerary, plus mode of transport for Mr Harvie's trip to and from Copenhagen in April 2023, along with expenses and itinerary for every civil servant who attended.

Response

Open Government Partnership Europe Regional Meeting, Rome

Scottish Government officials in attendance to the meeting in Rome were the Head of Open Government and a Private Secretary. This information is publicly available on the chamber and committee questions and answers page on the Scottish Parliament website. A Parliamentary question was lodged 20th December 2022 by Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. The question, and accompanying answer provided by Scottish Government, can be found on the Parliamentary website using the reference S6W-13376.
The question lodged is outlined below:

“To ask the Scottish Government what mode(s) of transport the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights used to attend the Open Government Partnership Europe Regional Meeting in Rome on 11-12 October 2022; what the job titles were of the Scottish Government officials or employees that attended with him, and what the total costs were of attendance at this meeting”.

One Scottish Government official (a Private Secretary) supported the Minister throughout the duration of the trip. This involved accompanying the Minster to London, Paris, Basil and Rome. Both the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights and the Private Secretary travelled by train.

Both supporting officials at the event in Rome accompanied the Minister to each engagement. The itinerary for each Scottish Government official was therefore structured by the Minister’s schedule of planned engagements. An itinerary outlining each engagement the Minister attended is publicly available on the Scottish Government website. Information related to ministerial engagements, travel and gifts are routinely and proactively published. The Minister’s engagements took place from 10th October 2022 to 12th October 2022.

The Head of Open Government at Scottish Government attended and contributed to further conference engagements related to Scotland’s Open Government work separately from the Minister. These engagements focused on improving democracy and how to use open government to develop climate actions. The conference took place over 11th and 12th October 2022 and the agenda was publicly available.

The total cost of attendance at the Open Government Partnership Europe Regional Meeting was £5,332.55. The total cost of expenses incurred by the Head of Open Government to attend the event in Rome was £452.77. The total cost of expenses incurred by the one Private Secretary who attended the event in Rome was £176.60.

Ministerial visit to Copenhagen, Denmark

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide information you have requested related to the Minister’s mode of travel, itinerary and expenses because an exemption under Section 27(1) – information held with a view to publication of FOISA applies to this information. The reasons why that exemption applies is explained in the Annex to this letter.

Two Scottish Government officials supported the Minister throughout the duration of the ministerial visit. This included one Private Secretary and the Head of Heat in Buildings Futures Unit at Scottish Government.

Supporting officials attended all events and meetings with the Minister. The itinerary for each Scottish Government official was therefore structured by the Minister’s schedule of planned engagements. As part of exemption Section 27(1) – information held with a view to publication, we are unable to provide information related to the Minister’s itinerary.

The total cost of expenses incurred by the Head of Heat in Buildings Futures Unit to attend the ministerial visit to Copenhagen was £948.41. The total cost of expenses incurred by the one Private Secretary who attended the ministerial visit to Copenhagen was £135.18.

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FOI 202300352059 - Information Released - Annex

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