Rational for withholding details of individual 'stars' fees.

Paul Perrin made this Freedom of Information request to British Broadcasting Corporation

The request was partially successful.

From: Paul Perrin

25 June 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please can you give me all the information you hold that was used
to reach the conclusion that it "does not make sense to release
details of individual star's fees."

As reportedly stated by the BBC Director General Mark Thompson and
reported on the BBC website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment...

My enquiry is primarily because I would like the know the pros/cons
that were considered and the weight given to them.
Particularly as is not for an information holder to asses the
quality or reason for a request, their duty under the law is to
purely to provide the information if requested.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Perrin

Link to this

From: FOI Enquiries
British Broadcasting Corporation

25 June 2009

Dear Mr Perrin,

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, as detailed in your email below. Your request was
received on 25th June, 2009. We will deal with your request as promptly
as possible, and at the latest within 20 working days. If you have any
queries about your request, please contact us at the address below.

The reference number for your request is RFI20090920.

Kind regards

The Information Policy & Compliance Team

BBC Freedom of Information
Room 2252, BBC White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS

www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [BBC request email]

Tel: 020 8008 2882
Fax: 020 8008 2398

show quoted sections

Link to this

From: FOI Enquiries
British Broadcasting Corporation

13 July 2009

Attachment RFI20090920 final response.pdf
85K Download View as HTML

Attachment RFI20090920 FS50067416 decision notice.pdf
1.5M Download View as HTML

Attachment RFI20090920 FS50085710 decision notice.pdf
1.8M Download View as HTML

Dear Mr Perrin

Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20090920

<<RFI20090920 - final response.pdf>>

<<RFI20090920 - FS50067416 - decision notice.pdf>> <<RFI20090920 -
FS50085710 - decision notice.pdf>>
Yours sincerely
Rachel Hallett

BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room 2252, White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS, UK

Website: [1]www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [2]mailto:[BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2883
Fax: 020 8008 2398

References

Visible links
1. file://www.bbc.co.uk/foi
2. mailto:[BBC request email]

Link to this

From: Paul Perrin

27 July 2009

Dear FOI Enquiries,

Thank you for your response.

I have read it and am not entirely clear on precisely what you mean
by it.

In particular, the documents you provided refer to the BBCs
'Commercial Interest'(s).

As the BBC is a publicly financed monopoly it is not clear to me
what interests the BBC has that could be considered as
'commercial'.

I would like to know what the BBC considers 'commercial' and how it
decides what is 'commercial' and what is not (is all the rest
'public service'?).

Yours sincerely,

Paul Perrin

Link to this

From: FOI Enquiries
British Broadcasting Corporation

28 July 2009

Dear Mr Perrin

Thank you for your email below. The response referred to the exemption
under section 43(2) of the FOI Act. Information is exempt if its
disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial position of the
BBC or anyone else.

The BBC considers the application of this exemption on a case by case
basis, and refers to the Information Commissioner's Office guidance on
the exemption. This guidance can be found online at
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...
tailed_specialist_guides/awareness_guidance_5_v3_07_03_08.pdf

The guidance explains that a commercial interest relates to a person's
ability to participate competitively in a commercial activity, i.e. the
purchase and sale of goods or services. It also sets out the type of
information held by public authorities that may affect commercial
interests.

The BBC is in competition with other broadcasters in relation to hiring
actors, presenters etc, and disclosure of the amounts paid to them
would be likely to affect the BBC's ability to participate competitively
in this highly competitive marketplace.

Yours sincerely
Rachel Hallett

BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room 2252, 2nd Floor, White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS, UK

Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: mailto:[BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2883
Fax: 020 8008 2398

show quoted sections

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
British Broadcasting Corporation only: