Michael Julyan via e-mail
[FOI #2917 email]
2nd October 2008
Dear Mr Julyan,
Request for Information - RFI20080982
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”) received on 7
September 2008 seeking the following information relating to BBC Television:
‘….a .breakdown by ethnicity of all BBC TV staff who are presenters on BBC Channels or are
reporters who appear in front of the camera either in an external broadcast or internal broadcast
as at 1st July 2008. This list to include both permanent employees and contract staff’
The BBC only collects ethnicity data for staff employed on permanent or fixed-term contracts. This
does not include casuals or freelancers. As many television presenters/reporters are freelancers, we
would not necessarily have ethnicity information available for this section of the workforce.
In addition, we estimate that it would take more than two and a half days to identify all staff who
appear on air and to gather any information related to ethnicity for this section of the workforce.
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).
However, we are able to provide ethnicity figures relating to staff in television roles in response to
your request. For the purposes of this request, we are including staff working in television outlets
across the BBC with ‘presenter’ or ‘reporter’ in their job titles.
Please find below workforce statistics relating to the ethnic background of staff in the above roles
across the BBC.
It is not mandatory for staff to inform the BBC of their ethnicity, therefore our figures only relate to
records where the ethnicity is known (currently 96% of the workforce). The figures also exclude
Local Recruits (staff who are recruited and work locally, outside the UK): this affects the Global News
division in particular, as we have various news bureaux around the world.
Number Percentage
Majority 190 82.6
Minorities 40 17.4
Total 230
100.0
Ethnicity statistics are calculated by comparing the number of ethnic minority staff (non-white) with
the number of ethnic majority staff (white).
As at 1 July 2008, the BBC employed 40 staff from an ethnic minority background in television
presenting/reporting roles across the organisation. This constitutes 17.4 % of the television
presenting/reporting workforce for staff who are employed by the BBC and where the ethnicity is
known.
The BBC’s Equal Opportunities Policy can be found at the following:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/foi/docs/working_at_the_bbc/equal_opportunities_and_diversity/Equal_Opportu
nities.pdf
I hope this response satisfies your request.
Your Appeal Rights:
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior
manager. Please contact us at the following address: BBC Freedom of Information, Room 2252,
White City, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS, 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
Mary Geoghegan
BBC People
