FOI - MIPIM [May 2025]

Please could you tell me the following information regarding the Mayor of London's attendance at MIPIM 2025:

1. Did any members of the organisation attend MIPIM in an official capacity? If so, how many attended and what are their job titles?
2. If so, what was the total spend by the organisation on attending the conference? (please make clear how much was spent by the organisation itself, and how much it received, if any, in sponsorships or grants)
3. How much was spent on flights? (please provide information on the airline, and the class)
4. How much was spent on accommodation? (Please provide the name and address of the hotel)
5. How much was spent on food and subsistence? (Please provide receipts for any restaurants, cafes or bars visited)
6. How much was spent on conference costs? For example, tickets to the conference, any stands set up at the conference

Response

I can confirm that the GLA holds information with the scope of your request.

Did any members of the organisation attend MIPIM in an official capacity? If so, how many attended and what are their job titles?

The Mayor attended MIPIM to bang the drum for London and seek investment to deliver affordable homes, key regeneration schemes and transport infrastructure. He had a series of productive meetings with FTSE100 companies, leading CEOs and some of the biggest investors in the world – all of whom are keen to explore investing in London.

The Deputy Mayor for Business & Growth Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor for Housing & Residential Development Tom Copley, and Deputy Mayor for Planning & Regeneration Jules Pipe also attended.

The Mayor and the Deputy Mayors were accompanied by the following GLA officials.

Alison Picton, Assistant Chief of Staff and Mayoral Director Operations

Felicity Appleby, Assistant Chief of Staff and Mayoral Director Political and Public Affairs

Nadeem Javaid, Mayoral Director Global and Community Affairs

Interim Mayoral Director, Communications

Head of Business and Economic Policy

International Relations Officer

Senior Press Officer

International Relations Officer

Photographer

Please note that some names of members of staff are exempt from disclosure under s.40 (Personal information) of the Freedom of Information Act. This information would identify specific employees and as such constitutes personal data which is defined by Article 4(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual. It is considered that disclosure of this information would contravene the first data protection principle under Article 5(1) of GDPR which states that Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.

If so, what was the total spend by the organisation on attending the conference? (please make clear how much was spent by the organisation itself, and how much it received, if any, in sponsorships or grants)

The total cost to the GLA was £8152.51.

Opportunity London covered the cost of flights for the Mayor and Deputy Mayors for Business and Growth and Housing and Residential Development. Accommodation for the Mayor and his deputies were provided by the event organisers which also provided a pass to the event. These details have been declared and are published under the Gift and Hospitality register for the Mayor, Deputy Mayor for Planning Regeneration and Skills, Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, and Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development.

How much was spent on flights? (please provide information on the airline, and the class)

The Mayor and Deputy Mayors for Business and Growth and Housing and Residential Development took economy flights to and from Nice. The Mayor and Deputy Mayors Residential Development travelled with EasyJet and British Airways, Deputy Mayors for Business and Growth flew with Vueling, EasyJet and British Airways. Opportunity London covered the flights costs, details of which have been declared and are published under their Gift and Hospitality register provided in question 2. 

The rest of the delegation flew British Airways economy class and the total cost to the GLA was £2,799.62.

How much was spent on accommodation? (Please provide the name and address of the hotel)

Accommodation for the Mayor and his deputies were provided by the event organisers, details of which have been declared and are published under their Gift and Hospitality register provided in question 2. The Mayor stayed at the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes, 10 Bd de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes, France. The Deputy Mayors stayed at the JW Marriott Cannes, 50 Bd de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes, France.

The rest of the delegation stayed at the Novotel Suites Cannes Centre, 46 Bis Bd Carnot, 06400 Cannes, France. The total accommodation cost to the GLA is £3037.81.

How much was spent on food and subsistence? (Please provide receipts for any restaurants, cafes or bars visited)

£974.25 was spent on food and subsistence. Please see receipts attached.

A small amount of information has been redacted and is withheld under sections 31 and 40 of the FOIA.

Section 31(1)(a)

Section 31(1)(a) (Law enforcement) of the FOIA states that information is exempt if its disclosure under the FOI Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention (or detection) or crime. This exemption has been applied to a small amount of financial information - customer account numbers. After considering the nature of the withheld information it is our opinion that were a disclosure to be made into the public domain it is probable that this information could be traced back to sensitive personal or commercial information which could be used for criminal activity.

Although we recognise the public interest in transparency surrounding the publishing of information relating to public authority expenses there is also a strong public interest in ensuring that we are able to protect our service users from the threat of being subjected to criminal activity. In our opinion, the public interest in protecting the financial security of the individuals outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

We find that the public interest in withholding this information outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Sections 40(2) and 40(3A)(a)

A small amount of information is exempt from disclosure under s.40 (Personal information) of the Freedom of Information Act. The personal data redacted includes: names; third party information.

This information constitutes personal data as set out in Article 4(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (UK GDPR) which states: ‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly.

It is considered that disclosure of this information would contravene the first data protection principle under Article 5(1) of GDPR which states that Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.

How much was spent on conference costs? For example, tickets to the conference, any stands set up at the conference

MIPIM organiser provided passes to the Mayor and his team. These details have been declared and are published under their Gift and Hospitality register provided in question 2.

No other conference costs were incurred.