FOI/202600500910 - Review of 202500497042 · FOI · partially withheld
Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy's expenses for COP30: FOI Review
Information requested
Original Request 202500497042
Under FOI I would like to request all receipts, approvals and confirmations of travel, accommodation and expenses incurred by Gillian Martin and her office at COP.
Response
I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for:
Under FOI I would like to request all receipts, approvals and confirmations of travel, accommodation and expenses incurred by Gillian Martin and her office at COP.
In your review request you indicated:
I want this reviewed and raised as a complaint as no receipts have been provided for expenses as I specifically requested.
I dispute the use of 29(1)(d) - it is in the public interest to understand what options staff propose for travel.
I further dispute use of 27(1) as the published content on the website does not detail each expense and does not provide the receipts as I explicitly originally requested.
I have concluded that the original decision in relation to the use of section 29(1)(d) should be confirmed with modifications and that the use of section 27(1) in relation to release of receipts should be overturned.
Response to your request
Application of section 29(1)(d)
I attach a revised version of Annex A which includes most of the information you requested, including confirmations of travel bookings and approval to travel to attend COP30.
After careful consideration I have decided further information can be released, however an exemption under section 29(1)(d) of FOISA (Ministerial private office) still applies to some of the information requested. As you are aware this exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, to ensure private offices operate efficiently and to inform public debate. However, having reflected on the reasoning for withholding the information we agree with the original response that, on balance, for some of the information there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space for private office to engage with each other on the variety of options and issues on logistics of arranging travel for Ministers.
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details 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.
Receipts and application of Section 27(1)
After review we accept that receipts are not available in the information proactively published on the SG website, therefore section 27(1) should not apply in this instance. As a result I attach a copy of the receipts relating to the attendance at COP30 at Annex B.
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. personal financial information, 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 https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
I have concluded that the original decision in relation to the use of section 29(1)(d) should be confirmed with modifications and that the use of section 27(1) in relation to release of receipts should be overturned. Response to your request Application of section 29(1)(d) I attach a revised version of Annex A which includes most of the information you requested, including confirmations of travel bookings and approval to travel to attend COP30. After careful consideration I have decided further information can be released, however an exemption under section 29(1)(d) of FOISA (Ministerial private office) still applies to some of the information requested. As you are aware this exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e.