William Thackeray
By email to [FOI #7580 email]
11 February 2009
Dear Mr Thackeray
Freedom of information request – RFI20090239
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”) dated 3rd
February 2009, seeking the following information:
“a list of all gifts, hospitality or donations supplied to the BBC by Scientology organisations, over the past 5
years.”
With the exception of members of the Executive Board, BBC staff are not required to keep a
record of gifts or hospitality received. As background, the BBC’s expenses policy on hospitality
and gifts received has been included as an appendix to this letter.
The Executive Board members keep registers of hospitality and gifts received. These record basic
information, such as the date received, the type of gift/hospitality, the estimated value (where
possible) and the donor. The registers do not record whether there is a connection to
Scientology organisations and as such under section 1(1) of the Act, I can confirm that the BBC
does not hold the information requested.
The Executive Board’s register of gifts and hospitality for the financial year 2007/8 was published in
May 2008 and is available on the BBC’s Freedom of Information publication scheme – please see
http://www.bbc.co.uk/foi/publication_scheme/classes/disclosure_logs/other.shtml
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
Advisor, Information Policy & Compliance
RFI20090239 - Appendix – BBC Expenses policy
“2. Receiving hospitality or gifts from organisations or individuals
2.1 Receiving hospitality
Whilst modest hospitality is an accepted courtesy of a business relationship, the recipient
should not allow a position to be reached whereby its acceptance might be deemed by others
to have influenced a decision or lead to potential allegations of conflict of interest.
Invitations to modest corporate entertainment events may be accepted if there is clear
benefit to the BBC e.g. to build supplier relationships or to network with other
customers/contacts. Before any invitation is accepted line manager approval must be sought
in writing.
Invitations should not be accepted if the event is overseas or includes an overnight stay.
Invitations which include partners may be accepted, with line manager approval, and provided
they meet the above criteria, if there is no cost to the BBC.
2.2 Receiving gifts
Gifts (for you or your immediate family) from organisations or individuals with whom you
have, or might have, business dealings on behalf of the BBC should not be accepted. This can
include goods and services in kind, at preferential rates or cash. Gifts should be returned to
the sender or donated to charity.
Very modest gifts e.g. diaries or a bottle of wine, of say less than £25 in value, may be
occasionally accepted.”
