Info tsar says government FOI delays ‘not remotely acceptable’

Scotland’s information tsar has ruled the delay on answering questions about Alex Salmond’s expenses is not even “remotely acceptable”.

The damning verdict was delivered by the Information Commissioner after The Sunday Post used Freedom of Information laws to request details of the First Minister’s taxpayer-funded travel expenses.

SNP ministers refused to name UK hotels used by Mr Salmond on security grounds.

Commissioner Rosemary Agnew backed the decision, though added she “did not reach this conclusion lightly” after meeting senior police officers.

She said: “Ministers’ handling of this request cannot be considered to reflect what the commissioner would regard as good (or even remotely acceptable) practice in responding to an information request.

“This is all the more unacceptable given there is a reasonable expectation that information of this type (expenses incurred by the First Minister in the course of his official duties) would be requested and scrutinised.”

The original request for information was made in April, 2013, and after it was ignored, we appealed to the Information Commissioner.

In July Mr Salmond’s office finally released details of his overseas trips with records showing £58,640 was spent on “travel and subsistence card” bills for Mr Salmond’s office between December 2008 and December 2013.

Details of much of the spending was blocked for “security reasons” but included £21,379 at hotels around the world, all of which were five-star, bar one four-star hotel in California and a 3.5-star hotel in Norway. The biggest hotel spend was for the Peninsula in Chicago during the 2012 Ryder Cup where the bill came to £3,756.

It has been previously reported the bill for the suite on this trip, which caused a storm of controversy over its extravagance, was just under £3,000. This means a further £756 was racked up in “subsistence” costs at the hotel popular with Hollywood celebrities including Justin Bieber.

Other five-star hotels enjoyed by Mr Salmond include the China World Hotel in Beijing where, during a trip in 2011, the total bill came to £2,174.