Bute House All Festivals Reception cost breakdown: FOI release

Information requested

Could you supply all documentation from John Swinney's Edinburgh Fringe Reception on August 7 including correspondence (internal as well), minutes/notes from the meeting, briefing notes prepared, policy and analysis, between July 1 and date of this FOI? Could you supply the full costs of this as well?

How many events did the Scottish Government hold/pay for during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, could you provide a list of this, how much money was paid out (with a breakdown of costs)?

Response

In relation to Question Two:
In relation to your second question, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing some of the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is because the request covers a large quantity of correspondence.

Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. This may be achieved, for example, by further specifying the information you are looking for, instead of all documentation from the All Festivals Reception on August 7, or narrowing the time frame of your request. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.

A cost breakdown of the Bute House All Festivals Reception has been included below:

All Festivals Reception - Bute House 7th August 2024

Menu Item	Price	Person Count	Total Cost
Canapes	£16.80	52	£873.60
Red Wine **	£19.70	7	£137.90
White Wine **	£19.70	18	£354.60
Non Alcohol Wine**	£16.70	0	£0.00
Soft Drinks **	£12.60	3	£37.80
Sparkling Water **	£3.40	18	£61.20
Fresh Orange/Apple Juice**	£4.40	0	£0.00
Tea/Coffee & Tablet	£3.90	0	£0.00
Transport & Equipment	£98.20	1	£98.20
Staffing Costs	£829.23	1	£829.23
Total Cost			£2,392.53

** charged as per consumption

In relation to Question Three:

The Scottish Government has not held or hosted any other events in relation to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

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.