Nobel House Area 1E 17 Smith Square T: 03459 33 55 77 London [email protected] SW1P 3JR www.gov.uk/defra [REDACTED] Our ref: [REDACTED] By email: [REDACTED] 6 August 2020 Dear [REDACTED] , REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: Flights in 2019/20 Thank you for your request for information of 10 July 2020 about flights taken by Defra staff in 2019/20. We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Your information request and our response are set out below: This is an information request relating to flights undertaken by your department. Please include the following information: a. What has been the cost to your department on flights in the financial year 2019-20? b. What was the total number of flights your department purchased in the financial year 2019-20? c. Please also include: i. the name of the airline used ii. the fare paid iii. the class of ticket (e.g. economy, premium economy, business, first) iv. the date of the flight v. the port of departure vi. the port of arrival Defra was invoiced £585,714 in 2019-20 for 1,380 flights booked through our sole travel provider. Details of these flights can be seen in Annex C. The information is based on what Defra was invoiced for in 2019-20. Some of the flight dates are outside of this time period. Last-minute changes may mean some flights are recorded that weren’t actually taken but which are non-refundable. Credits are shown in the figures where flights have been refunded. These credits are reflected in the two figures quoted in the paragraph above. Some of the flights are individual legs and some are round trips. Due to the nature of work Defra is involved in, staff require international engagement and travel abroad. Our work covers a number of major international priorities, from safeguarding the world’s oceans to tackling the illegal wildlife trade and protecting the world’s most iconic species. This means flights are sometimes necessary as we work directly with leaders across the world. However, we are committed to using the greenest means of travel where possible. Defra’s Travel and Subsistence policy allows Business Class flights to be taken when certain criteria are met, such as a long-haul flight and the staff member is required to work straight away on arrival. Two first class flights are shown. Both are where a Minister took a flight for which Defra was billed. Ministers are not subject to the department’s Travel and Subsistence Policy. Information disclosed in response to this FOIA request is releasable to the public. In keeping with the spirit and effect of the FOIA and the government’s Transparency Agenda, this letter and the information disclosed to you may be placed on GOV.UK, together with any related information that will provide a key to its wider context. No information identifying you will be placed on the GOV.UK website. We attach Annex A, explaining the copyright that applies to the information being released to you, and Annex B giving contact details should you be unhappy with the service you have received. If you have any queries about this letter please contact me. Yours sincerely [REDACTED] Information Rights Team [email protected] Annex A Copyright The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for private study and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs or logos) can be also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most documents produced by Defra will be protected by Crown Copyright. Most Crown copyright information can be re-used under the Open Government Licence. For information about the OGL and about re-using Crown Copyright information please see The National Archives website. Copyright in other documents may rest with a third party. For information about obtaining permission from a third party see the Intellectual Property Office’s website. _________________________________________ Annex B Complaints If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request you may make a complaint or appeal against our decision under section 17(7) of the FOIA or under regulation 11 of the EIRs, as applicable, within 40 working days of the date of this letter. Please write to [REDACTED] , Head of Information Rights via email at [email protected] and he will arrange for an internal review of your case. Details of Defra’s complaints procedure are on our website. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, section 50 of the FOIA and regulation 18 of the EIRs gives you the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Please note that generally the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have first exhausted Defra’s own complaints procedure. The ICO’s offices are currently closed so please visit their website on how to contact them during this period, here: https://ico.org.uk Annex C Details of Flights Invoiced in 2019-20 Fare Paid Airline (£) Class Travel Date Departure Airport Destination Tracker - T463 154.00 Economy 13/11/2018 Istanbul Sharm El Shiek British Airways 60.00 Economy 04/12/2018 London Heathrow Nice Norwegian Air 107.96 Economy 15/01/2019 London Gatwick Copenhagen British Midland Regional 279.10 Economy 23/01/2019 Newcastle Brussels South African Airways -539.60 Economy 10/03/2019 Johannesburg Johannesburg Tracker - T463 53.92 Economy 02/04/2019 London Gatwick Milan Malpensa Easy Jet 230.07 Economy 05/04/2019 London Gatwick Rome Leonardo Tracker - T463 412.09 Economy 06/04/2019 London Gatwick Copenhagen British Airways 288.44 Economy 07/04/2019 London Heathrow Madrid Norwegian Air 190.72 Economy 08/04/2019 London Gatwick Helsinki British Airways 280.34 Economy 08/04/2019 London City Geneva Swiss 213.74 Economy 08/04/2019 London City Geneva Norwegian Air 359.52 Economy 08/04/2019 London Gatwick Helsinki Easy Jet 182.68 Economy 08/04/2019 London Gatwick Copenhagen Tracker - T463 80.00 Economy 09/04/2019 London Heathrow Madrid British Airways 153.44 Economy 09/04/2019 London Heathrow Madrid Easy Jet 196.50 Economy 09/04/2019 London Gatwick Amsterdam British Airways 104.70 Economy 09/04/2019 Madrid London Heathrow Lufthansa 232.44 Economy 09/04/2019 London Heathrow Kishinev Lufthansa 232.44 Economy 09/04/2019 London Heathrow Kishinev Swiss 222.30 Economy 10/04/2019 Geneva London Heathrow Easy Jet 88.50 Economy 10/04/2019 Madrid London Gatwick British Airways 364.76 Economy 10/04/2019 London Heathrow Belfast City Aer Lingus 70.99 Economy 10/04/2019 London Gatwick Dublin British Airways 347.76 Economy 10/04/2019 London Heathrow Belfast City British Airways 65.00 Economy 11/04/2019 Dublin London City Ryanair 216.56 Economy 14/04/2019 London Stansted Luxembourg Lufthansa 392.80 Economy 14/04/2019 Rome Leonardo Luxembourg Ryanair 216.56 Economy 14/04/2019 London Stansted Luxembourg Ryanair 216.56 Economy 14/04/2019 London Stansted Luxembourg Easy Jet 40.00 Economy 15/04/2019 Luxembourg London Gatwick Easy Jet 40.00 Economy 15/04/2019 Luxembourg London Gatwick Flybe 140.30 Economy 15/04/2019 Luxembourg Manchester Easy Jet 40.00 Economy 15/04/2019 Luxembourg London Gatwick Norwegian Air 166.80 Economy 22/04/2019 Helsinki London Gatwick Easy Jet 254.78 Economy 22/04/2019 London Gatwick Geneva Air Canada 1070.22 Economy 23/04/2019 London Heathrow Montreal Dorval Air Canada 1070.32 Economy 23/04/2019 London Heathrow Montreal Dorval Tracker - T463 89.90 Economy 23/04/2019 London Heathrow Shanghai British Airways 1792.42 Economy 24/04/2019 London Heathrow Montreal Dorval British Airways 6854.42 First 24/04/2019 London Heathrow Montreal Dorval Easy Jet 103.86 Economy 24/04/2019 London Gatwick Belfast Intl Flybe 148.51 Economy 25/04/2019 Birmingham Belfast City Easy Jet 75.49 Economy 25/04/2019 London Gatwick Belfast Intl Westjet 194.78 Economy 26/04/2019 London Gatwick Toronto Easy Jet 94.90 Economy 27/04/2019 Manchester Geneva Swiss 114.54 Economy 27/04/2019 London Heathrow Geneva British Airways 304.04 Economy 27/04/2019 London Heathrow Geneva British Airways 283.04 Economy 27/04/2019 London Heathrow Geneva Easy Jet 123.42 Economy 27/04/2019 Bristol Geneva Easy Jet 85.42 Economy 28/04/2019 London Luton Glasgow Easy Jet 236.48 Economy 28/04/2019 Bristol Paris C.d Gaull Fare Paid Airline (£) Class Travel Date Departure Airport Destination Flybe 213.58 Economy 28/04/2019 Cardiff Paris C.d Gaull Easy Jet 37.32 Economy 29/04/2019 London Gatwick Madrid Easy Jet 96.52 Economy 29/04/2019 London Gatwick Geneva Air Canada 3181.32 Economy 29/04/2019 London Heathrow Ottawa Lufthansa 605.50 Economy 29/04/2019 Munich Tbilisi Flybe 129.68 Economy 29/04/2019 Cardiff Munich Swiss 140.14 Economy 29/04/2019 London Heathrow Geneva Swiss 104.14 Economy 29/04/2019 London Heathrow Geneva Swiss -104.14 Economy 29/04/2019 London Heathrow Geneva British Airways 516.80 Economy 30/04/2019 Madrid London Heathrow Flybe 142.70 Economy 30/04/2019 Newquay Leeds Bradford Flybe 109.26 Economy 30/04/2019 London City Belfast City Flybe 109.26 Economy 30/04/2019 London City Belfast City British Airways 572.54 Economy 01/05/2019 London Heathrow Aberdeen British Airways 84.44 Economy 01/05/2019 London Heathrow Edinburgh British Airways 516.54 Economy 02/05/2019 London Heathrow Aberdeen Flybe 79.62 Economy 02/05/2019 Edinburgh Exeter Tracker -