TVL 178 Caution

British Broadcasting Corporation did not have the information requested.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

The image at the following link shows the caution to be read to occupiers by Capita employees before attempting an interview. https://goo.gl/mXMdfV

The Government's Guidance document on conducting interviews under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Available here https://goo.gl/YSNXyX) states that

"Section 11 of Code C of the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Codes of Practice
and Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (PACE (NI)) Codes
of Practice define an interview as:

“...the questioning of a person regarding his involvement, or suspected involvement,
in a criminal offence or offences which, by virtue of paragraph 10.1 of Code C, is
required to be carried out under caution”. "

Capita employees who turn up at unlicensed households (with or without a search warrant) seek to question the occupier regarding his or her involvement or suspected involvement in the criminal offence of licence fee evasion under Section 363 of the Communications Act 2003. Very clearly such interviews must therefore be compliant with the provision of PACE. Furthermore, since individuals interviewed by Capita employees on suspicion of licence fee evasion are not detained or under arrest, the interview must be regarded as voluntary under Section 31 of PACE.

This being the case kindly state why the TVL178 includes only the simplified caution intended to be used only where the suspect does not understand the full caution (as stated in the Home Office guidance linked to above).

Kindly further explain why Capita employees are not instructed to advise suspects of their rights under PACE
a) to terminate the interview at any time
b) to have rest breaks
c) to be provided with refreshments
d) to obtain legal advice.

In this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQDqEVpM... it may be seen that the Capita employee solicits the police officer to arrest the householders for "obstruction" for exercising their right to remain silent, requesting legal counsel and declining a voluntary interview.

Does the BBC condone the actions of this employee?

Has this employee been provided with any training to help him understand the provisions of PACE and his obligations under them?

What action does the BBC take to ensure that it's agents Capita fully comply with PACE during the execution of doorstep interviews and interviews during search under warrant?

What action does the BBC take to protect the public from the actions of rouge operatives such as the one seen in the video linked above soliciting the police to deprive citizens of their liberty and charge them with an offence for having the temerity to exercise the rights afforded to them under PACE

Yours faithfully,

Karin Mabberley

Peter Jones left an annotation ()

You need to slow down Karin, otherwise the BBC will reel up its drawbridge and ignore you as "vexatious".

Karin Mabberley left an annotation ()

I'll be extremely annoyed if they take that route! These are all very clearly genuine questions and if the BBC find them vexing (undoubtedly) that does not mean they are vexatious. What are my options if they take that tack?

Peter Jones left an annotation ()

If you've read my past requests you'll see I also have a bit of a thing about the BBC.
They can reasonably say you're acting vexatiously if you keep bombarding them with multiple requests, which they perceive as causing disproportionate stress/inconvenience/expense in processing. The ICO has previously confirmed that argument is valid. I would just ease off a bit. Maybe a couple of requests at a time and hold off until the current backlog has been cleared.

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

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Dear Karin Mabberley

 

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, as detailed in your email. Your request was received
on 28/02/2018.  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 RFI20180400.

 

Kind regards,

 

 

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FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

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Dear Ms Mabberley,

                                            

Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20180400.

 

Yours sincerely

 

BBC Information Policy and Compliance

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Broadcast Centre

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UK

 

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