Scottish Government international offices: FOI release

Information requested

1. Is the Scottish Government still planning on opening an international office in Warsaw and if so when will it open, how many staff will it include and full cost of it broken down.
2. In one of the international offices foi releases, officials say a report is being written on the effectiveness of the international offices. How much is this costing and breakdown of the costs?
3. Has the auditor general looked at or any independent analysis been done on the value for money aspect of the international offices? If so, could you supply this information? If not, how can the government know they are getting value for money?
4. Full rent costs for each of the offices, including their address and how much council tax is paid? Breakdown of these costs.
5. All briefings prepared for ministers about the costs of international offices in 2023.
6. How many Scottish government employed/taxpayer funded staff work at each office in each of the years they have been open and breakdown of these costs and staff members there in every year'

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you have requested below and in the attached annexes.

1. Is the Scottish Government still planning on opening an international office in Warsaw and if so when will it open, how many staff will it include and full cost of it broken down.

The answer to the first part of your question is yes. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested regarding timescales and the breakdown of cost and staff for the proposed Warsaw office.
The reason for this is because a decision has yet to be made on the extent of the presence. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

2. In one of the international offices foi releases, officials say a report is being written on the effectiveness of the international offices. How much is this costing and breakdown of the costs?

The Scottish Government international offices measure activities, output and successes using a range of qualitative data, such as feedback provided by stakeholders, media articles or case studies, and quantitative data such as social media performance and event statistics. Each Scottish Government international office submits a monitoring and evaluation report for each financial year in order to monitor the offices’ effectiveness which help to ensure each office is achieving their objectives and providing value for money. This is supplemented by further quantitative data provided by Scottish Development International on trade and investment activity associated with each location. The Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s report on the Scottish Government’s international work recommended that we publish an annual report, setting out the contribution made by the international offices in promoting the values, objectives and priorities of the revised International Framework. The Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture confirmed to the Committee that a report would be published by December 2023.

Because this activity is undertaken by staff as part of their routine business objectives, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of costs for this activity alone. Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

3. Has the auditor general looked at or any independent analysis been done on the value for money aspect of the international offices? If so, could you supply this information? If not, how can the government know they are getting value for money?

As noted, the Scottish Government international offices measure activities, output and successes using a range of qualitative data, such as feedback provided by stakeholders, media articles or case studies, and quantitative data such as social media performance and event statistics. Each Scottish Government international office submits a monitoring and evaluation report for each financial year in order to monitor the offices’ effectiveness which help to ensure each office is achieving their objectives and providing value for money.

Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. However, you may wish to contact the Auditor General with your request. Information on how to contact Audit Scotland can be found here: https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/contact-us/freedom-of-information-andmodel-publication-scheme

4. Full rent costs for each of the offices, including their address and how much council tax is paid? Breakdown of these costs.

Regarding the rent costs of international offices, the information requested is already publicly available. You can find this information here: Scottish International Offices costs: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). 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 website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. In relation to your request for information on the cost of council tax for international offices, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested as council tax is only liable on residential properties in the UK.

Some of the information you have requested is available from the Scottish Government website, which you can find here: International relations - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). 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 website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

5. All briefings prepared for ministers about the costs of international offices in 2023.

Please find attached information which falls within scope of your request in Annexes A and B. Please note that the surrounding information has been redacted due to the information being out of scope of your request. 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 under section 38(1)(b) Third party data of FOISA applies to that information. The reason this applies is because the release of third party personal data would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR.

This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

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 under section 29(1)(a) Formulation or development of government policy of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption applies is because the information requested relates to the formulation or development of government policy.

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 as part of open, transparent and accountable government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring high-quality, properly considered development of policies, decision-making and implementation.

6. How many Scottish government employed/taxpayer funded staff work at each office in each of the years they have been open and breakdown of these costs and staff members there in every year

Year	International Office	Number of Staff (both Scottish Government and Country Based Staff) - Headcount
2016/17	Beijing	4
	Washington	4
2017/18	Beijing	4
	Washington	4
2018/2019	Brussels (Scotland House)	16*
	Washington	4
	Beijing	4
	Berlin	3
	Ottawa	3
	Paris	3
	Dublin	3
	London	10
2019/20	Brussels (Scotland House)	17*
	Washington	4
	Beijing	4
	Berlin	3
	Ottawa	3
	Paris	3
	Dublin	3
	London	14
2020/21	Brussels (Scotland House)	17*
	Washington	5
	Beijing	4
	Berlin	3
	Ottawa	4
	Paris	3
	Dublin	3
	London	14
2021/22	Brussels (Scotland House)	19
	Washington	5
	Beijing	4
	Berlin	3
	Ottawa	4
	Paris	3
	Dublin	3
	London	14
2022/23	Brussels (Scotland House)	17*
	Washington	5
	Beijing	4
	Berlin	3
	Ottawa	3
	Paris	3
	Dublin	3
	Copenhagen	3
	London	14
2023/24	Brussels (Scotland House)	17 *
	Washington	4
	Beijing	4
	Berlin	3
	Ottawa	3
	Paris	3
	Dublin	3
	Copenhagen	3
	London	14

* Please be aware that these numbers may vary slightly to previously published FOI responses. This relates to the classification of staff requested, with previous releases including staff not on Scottish Government or FCDO contracts but working partially to SG responsibilities. The data provided here refers to Scottish Government employed staff as requested, including those locally engaged via FCDO to work for the Scottish Government.

Regarding the second part of your question, please find attached in Annex C a breakdown of each international office’s staffing. All of Scottish Government international offices, with the exception of Scotland House London and Scotland House Brussels (for which we have provided you with the pay bands for each member of staff), have only 3 or 4 staff and providing the individual bands would make it relative easy to find out the pay rates for each individual in the specific band. Therefore while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide a small amount of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. This is because it is personal data of a third party, specifically the salaries of individuals, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

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.

FOI 202300376045 - Information Released - Annex A, B and C

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