FOI 19-24: MLA and supporting staff travel to the USA

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our Ref: FoI 19-24

19 April 2024

Freedom of Information Act 2000

I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 20 March 2024 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). In this request you asked for the following information:

“Can you please confirm the following:

1. Names, roles/ranks of those MLA and supporting staff who attended the USA

2. Numbers of MLAs who attended

3. The political parties represented

4. Number of NIO/Assembly civil servants, and their role/status

5. Number of days those attending were in the USA

6. Financial cost for:

a) Travel

b) Accommodation

c) Individual expenses claimed by those attending

d) Expenses by NIO/Assembly for any functions organised/hosted on behalf of all those attending

7. What was the purpose of reps from the NI Assembly attending?

8. Also in the current financial crisis being experienced by all, can you please confirm the amount of money being spent on daily fresh flowers.”

Our response

Questions 1-6

Please see Appendix A (separate)

Question 7

This is not a request for information within the meaning of section 1 of the FOIA.

Question 8

The Assembly Commission does not use daily fresh flowers. No information is therefore held on the cost of daily fresh flowers.

Further information

You have the right to request an internal review of this decision by the Assembly Commission and if you wish to do so, please write to me at the above address. If after such an internal review you are still unhappy with the response, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF which will undertake an independent review. 

Your request for information and our response may be published in the disclosure log maintained by the Assembly Commission under a publication scheme agreed with the ICO. The request and our response will be anonymised. 

Yours sincerely

INFORMATION STANDARDS

 Appendix A

The Assembly Commission made arrangements and paid for two office-holders to travel to Washington DC for St Patrick’s Day engagements:

• The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Edwin Poots MLA (Democratic Unionist Party)
• The Chairperson of the Committee for the Executive Office, Ms Paula Bradshaw MLA (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland)

The office-holders were accompanied by two Assembly Commission employees:

• The Adviser to the Speaker, Mr Robin Ramsey
• The Clerk to the Committee for the Executive Office, Mr Michael Potter

Summarised in the Table below are the costs incurred or claimed to date, with an indication of the duration of the stay: