Alastair Manderson 
By email to [FOI #620 email] 
 
 
27th May 2008 
 
 
Dear Mr Manderson 
 
Freedom of Information request – reference RFI20080554 
 
Thank you for your email of 26th May 2008, in which you requested the following information: 
 
“the number of Freedom of Information requests the BBC has rejected in the following years i) 2001 ii) 
2005 and iii) 2007” 
 
Responses to Freedom of Information requests are not usually classified by public authorities or 
the Information Commissioner’s Office as “rejected”. When we review our Freedom of 
Information statistics each year, we look at the following categories of outcome: 
 
•  All information disclosed 
•  All information withheld – information can only be withheld where one of the 
exemptions under the Act applies 
•  Information partially disclosed - this applies where some, but not all, of the 
information has been withheld. Even if only a single word is withheld, we would consider 
the RFI outcome to be ‘Information partially disclosed’ 
•  Closed: no further information provided - for example, when the requester does not 
provide sufficient information to make the RFI valid as a section 8 request, or when the 
requester withdraws their RFI. 
•  Information available elsewhere – this applies for example, when the information is 
available in the annual report or on the BBC website. 
•  Information not held 
 
 

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Please also note that not all of the information held by the BBC is covered by the Freedom of 
Information Act 20001 (“the Act”). The following statistics, therefore, do not include requests in 
which the requester has cited the Act, but where the information requested is not covered by the 
Act.  
 
As the Act came into force on January 1st 2005, the BBC did not process any requests under the 
Act in 2001. 
 
In 2005, we recorded the following outcomes for those requests where the information was 
covered by the Act: 
 
All information Disclosed 
193 
Information Partially Disclosed 
165 
All information withheld 
120 
Closed: No further info provided  32 
Information Available Elsewhere  7 
Information Not held 
39 
 
In 2007, we recorded the following outcomes for those requests where the information was 
covered by the Act: 
 
All information Disclosed 
259 
Information Partially Disclosed 
136 
All information withheld 
57 
Closed: No further info provided 
20 
Information Available Elsewhere 
5 
Information Not held 
45 
 
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 
 
 
Rachel Hallett 
Adviser, Information Policy & Compliance 
  
                                                 
1 The BBC and the other public service broadcasters are covered by the Act only in respect of information held for 
purposes “other than those of journalism, art or literature” (see Schedule I, Part VI of the Act). 
 

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