Stephen Crabb  
By email to [FOI #1159 email] 
 
8 August 2008 
 
Dear Mr Crabb 
 
Freedom of Information request – RFI20080770 
 
Thank you for your email of 15 July 2008, in which you requested the following information: 
 
What was the total amount in the last financial year spent by  
a) BBC Alba,  
b) BBC Two,  
c) BBC Birmingham,  
d) BBC East,  
e) BBC East Midlands,  
f) BBC English Regions,  
g) BBC London,  
h) BBC North,  
i) BBC North East and Cumbria,  
j) BBC North West,  
k) BBC Northern Ireland,  
l) BBC Scotland,  
m) BBC South,  
n) BBC South East,  
o) BBC South West,  
p) BBC Wales,  
q) BBC West,  
r) BBC West Midlands,  
s) BBC Yorkshire,  
t) BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire  
on providing hospitality to  
a) Members of Parliament,  
b) Welsh Assembly Members, 
c)Members of the Scottish Parliament  
 

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d) Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly  
at 
i) sporting events,  
ii) concerts and other  cultural events? 
 
I estimate that to deal with your request 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 has been set by the Regulations (SI 2004/3244) as being £450 
(equivalent to two and a half days work, at an hourly rate of £25).  
 
Information about hospitality provided by teams within the Nations and Regions is not collated 
centrally by the BBC’s Events team. Rather, it is held within each of those regional teams and 
departments, often by the head of department or regional head in the form of a “Travel and Duty” 
form. In order to find information about the amount spent on hospitality, it would be necessary to 
check each individual form to see whether it related to the information you have requested – this 
would amount to hundreds of forms. Even if we were able to achieve this within 2.5 days, it would 
not be possible to quantify the amount spent specifically on MPs, Welsh Assembly Members and 
Members of the Scottish Parliament. These people are generally invited to events involving a 
broader cross-section of community representatives and we do not hold information about the 
exact amount spent on entertaining specifically these people, as opposed to others who may also 
have been present at the event.  
 
You may request an internal review of our decision that your request exceeds the appropriate 
limit. You can either email [BBC request email] or write to the above address. If you are not satisfied 
with the result of the internal review you then have the right to seek a further review from the 
Information Commissioner. Please see http://www.ico.gov.uk or contact the Information 
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, telephone 
01625 545700 for details.  
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
 
Rachel Hallett 
Advisor, Information Policy & Compliance 
 
 
 
 

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