First Minister hotel expense claim: FOI Release

Information requested

Please can I request a copy of the bill or receipt provided for the former First Minister’s hotel expense claim on 19th March, as detailed in the March 2023 ministerial engagements documents:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts-march-2023/

Please could a fully itemised bill for this be provided in full, in electronic form and within the timeframe required under Freedom of Information legislation.

Response

Please find attached the information you have requested. It may be useful to know that this was booked through the Scottish Government's corporate travel system, therefore there is no individual bill or receipt. 

An exemption under section 39(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because disclosure would, or would be likely to, endanger the physical or mental health or safety of an individual.

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 the First Minister’s travel and accommodation. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in the safety of the First Minister. Therefore, in accordance with advice from Police Scotland, the First Minister’s accommodation arrangements, apart from total costs, are not published.

 

 

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.

Information Released

File type

1 page PDF

File size

43.5 kB