Ms Jana Mills 
[FOI #6649 email] 
 
 
February 19th, 2009  
 
Dear Ms Mills 
 
RFI20090149 - Freedom of Information request 
 
Thank you for your email of January 21st requesting information about the total BBC expenditure 
on news content and delivery, including television, News 24 (now called the BBC News Channel) 
and online  BBC News services; and the proportion of a licence fee which is spent on News 
content and delivery. The reference number for your request is RFI20090149.  
 
Please note that your request is outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the 
Act”) but you can find some information in the BBC’s Annual Report: 
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/pdf/bbc_ara_2008_exec.pdf .  Total spend on BBC News 
is reported on pp141-142 of the Annual Report (£58.0m in 2008 and £55.0m in 2007).  
 
The information about the proportion of the licence fee which is spent on BBC News content and 
delivery is not held.  For details of the BBC's income please refer to pp105-106 which outlines the 
four main sources of income for the BBC (licence fee, government grants, commercial and other) 
and their totals.   
 
We hope you find this helpful. Your request is outside the scope of the Act because 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). However, on this occasion we’re happy to respond to your request.  For more information 
about how the Act applies to the BBC please see www.bbc.co.uk/foi  Please note that this 
guidance is not intended to be a comprehensive legal interpretation of how the Act applies to the 
BBC. 
 
The BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the 
Act. If you disagree with our decision you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact 
details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, 
SK9 5AF telephone 01625 545 700. http://www.ico.gov.uk/ 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
Stephanie Harris 
Head of Editorial Compliance 
BBC News 
 
 
 
 
 
 

---