Julian Todd
By email: Julian Todd [[FOI #1132 email]]
8 August 2008
Dear Mr Todd
Freedom of information request – RFI20080766
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”) dated 14 July
2008. The reference number for you request is RFI20080766
Your request was as follows:
“According to the Statement of Operation for Online,[1] the BBC operates a very detailed database of
whole website commissions, creative inputs, content ingest costs, application technologies, content rights,
customised software licences and contractors/freelancer/sole traders engaged on a "deliverables" basis -- in
order to verify its Quota Requirement of External Spend on Future Media & Technology, which was reported
as being 31% in the Annual Report and Accounts 2007/08. Paragraph 3.7 of the Statement of Operation
says:
"After considerable consultation with the new media industry, it was agreed that publishing the following
performance metrics will be helpful to the industry whilst not compromising commercial confidentiality:
* Total BBC spend on its online services * Total excluded activity* Total eligible external spend and
percentage attained * Headline performance by BBC division * A breakdown of eligible send by project
type * % of spend of commissions from the Approved Supplier List * Freelancer spend * Number of new
media suppliers contracted over a 12 month period * Number of new media suppliers not previously
contracted by the BBC * A national/regional breakdown of commissions"
(I have not as yet been able to find any details of these performance metrics on any BBC or trust web-
page.)
May I please have have a copy of all reports, arguments, advice, and evidence supplied by the interested
parties within the new media industries to the BBC as part of the aforementioned "considerable
consultation"?”
In answer to your request:
Following the 2004 Graf Report on the BBC’s Online Services, the BBC consulted and discussed at
length with various external suppliers and trade bodies such as the Producers Alliance for Cinema and
Television (“PACT”) to ensure that the definitions around the BBC Online Quota would be relevant
to both the BBC and the wider industry. The information provided as part of this consultation process
is held by multiple departments within the BBC and by third parties and we estimate that to deal with
your request for a copy of all reports, arguments, advice and evidence supplied by each department
would take more than two and a half days. Under section 12 of the Act, we are allowed to refuse to
handle the request if it would exceed the appropriate limit, the appropriate limit being set by the
Regulations (SI 2004/3244) as being £450 (equivalent to two and a half days work, at an hourly rate
of £25).
In addition to consulting a cross section of all interests, you may be interested to know that we
established the BBC Future Media Advisory Group, an expert panel comprising ten suppliers from the
BBC’s then current Approved Supplier List (a current description of which is at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/futuremediacommissioning/asl.pl) and representation from PACT and
the British Interactive Media Association (“BIMA”), to provide ongoing consultation as we developed
our plans. The members of this panel are due to be published on the BBC website by the end of
2008 following a BBC staff appointment.
For your information, please find attached details of the performance metrics. These are available
upon request from the BBC’s Marketing, Communications and Audiences division.
We hope you find this information useful.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior
manager or legal adviser. Please contact us at the address above, explaining what you would like us to
review and including your reference number. If you are not satisfied with the internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner. The contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, telephone 01625 545 700 or see
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Yours sincerely
L. Stiller
Legal and Business Affairs Manager
BBC Future Media & Technology
