TV License Statistics For Wales

The request was partially successful.

Christopher Griffiths

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

I am writing to you to ask for details of Welsh TV license payers.
Firstly how many households in Wales pay the TV license fee and secondly what is the total that you take in annually from Welsh households?

May I also ask how much of the license fee do you use on producing and/or broadcasting Welsh medium services such as Radio Cymru or the Newyddion on S4C.

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Griffiths

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Christopher,

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 18th September. 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 RFI20111142.

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

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FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Griffiths,

Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20111142.

Yours sincerely
Rebecca Turner

BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room 2252, 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

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Christopher Griffiths

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of British Broadcasting Corporation's handling of my FOI request 'TV License Statistics For Wales'.

I do not believe that it would take more than two and a half days in order for the BBC to complete parts 1 and 2 of the request. Even I as a person who does not work in computers could write a script or use an existing program which would filter the existing records to see which post-codes relate to Wales and gather a total from them in less than one hour. If I were working for the BBC with more relevant experience such as in IT or Computer Science I believe that this could be brought down to less than ten minutes.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/tv...

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Griffiths

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Mr Griffiths,

We have received your request for an internal review relating to our
decision to exempt information under section 12 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. The information you requested was about TV Licensing
statistics for Wales.  Your request for an internal review was received on
Monday 10 October 2011.  We shall deal with the review as promptly as
possible and, at the latest, within 30 working days.  If you have any
queries please contact us at the address below.

The reference number for your internal review is IR2011029

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

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

 
[3]http://www.bbc.co.uk
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FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Mr Griffiths,

I apologise that we are currently not in a position to provide a response
to your request for an Internal Review - IR2011029.  Please be advised
that we hope to be in a position to respond by no later than Wednesday 07
December 2011. 

Please accept my sincere apologies for this delay and for any
inconvenience this may have caused you. 

Yours sincerely
Rebecca Turner

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
 

 
[3]http://www.bbc.co.uk
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Peter Jones left an annotation ()

Looks like they've screwed up here too.
I suggest reminding them that they have failed in their statutory duty to provide a timely response to your review request. They often try this with me too... usually when they have something to hide!

Christopher Griffiths

Dear FOI Enquiries,

It has been ten days since your 7th December 2011 deadline to be able to respond to my request. I made the original FOI request back in mid September and it has been almost three calendar months since then, I feel that the BBC has failed to in their duty to provide a timely response to a FOI request. What is the current status of my request?

Yours sincerely,

Christopher Griffiths

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Mr Griffiths,

Thank you for your email below requesting an update of your Internal Review decision.

Please be advised that your request for Review has been referred to the Head of Department; who hopes to have a response completed as soon as possible.

I apologise for this delay and for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Yours Sincerely,

BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room 2252, 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

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Peter Jones left an annotation ()

Still no response here.
The BBC's consistently abysmal management of internal review resources are no excuse for them failing to comply with their statutory obligations.
I would set them a deadline to respond, after which time you will refer the matter to the ICO.

Christopher Griffiths

Dear FOI Enquiries,

I feel that the BBC has not kept up with their statuatory obligations in dealing with this FOI request. I am setting a deadline of 8th January 2011 to have a proper response. I will pass this on to the Information Commisioner's Office if this isn't upheld.

Yours sincerely,

Christopher Griffiths

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Griffiths

Please find attached the response to your request for an internal review,
reference IR2011029

<<IR2011029 - Decision Note - Final.pdf>>

I apologise for the delay and for any inconvenience this may have caused. 

Yours sincerely
Rebecca Turner

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
 

 
[3]http://www.bbc.co.uk
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views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system.
Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in
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Peter Jones left an annotation ()

So they've decided all of a sudden (when nudged) that they can provide most of the information initially requested.

This further confirms the BBC's laissez-faire attitude to dealing with legitimate FOIA requests. Quite simply, the BBC reject requests a lot of valid requests purely because it's "too much bother" for them to respond.

They arrogantly assume that most people are so legally unawares they'll not question the validity of the BBC's lack of response.

We already know, as a matter of fact, that the BBC rejects half of all FOIA requests made to them. Based on what I have observed I suspect they're decision is flawed in a large proportion of those cases.

Christopher Griffiths left an annotation ()

Thanks Peter Jones for your cooperation in helping me get an answer from the BBC. They quite obviously had the information at hand and we quite reluctant to hand over the data for whatever reason.

Thanks again for the help!

Christopher Griffiths

Dear FOI Enquiries,

Thank you for the information despite the rather long wait for it. I found the data to be satisfying however I feel that the BBC ought to brush up in their handling of FOI requests having waited three and a half months for the data which was quickly handed over after mentioning the Information Commissioner's Office.

I am thankful for the data provided but again I felt that it should have been dealt with in another manner.

Yours sincerely / Cofion,

Christopher Griffiths

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Mr Griffiths

Since issuing your review decision on Friday 6th January - IR2011029 - 
it has come to our attention that the decision contained a minor factual
inaccuracy.  We stated at paragraph 7: "The BBC in this matter should
have explained that, over monthly periods, it obtains a report from the
supplier in charge of the TV licence management (Capita) which lists
Licences in Force excluding Accommodation for Residential Care
concessionary licences and black and white licences. "

In fact, the figures include black and white licences, although the
numbers of such licences are very low.  Specifically, as at the end of
November 2011, of the 25,136,233 licences in force only 16,752 of those
were black and white licences.   The remaining 25,119,481 were colour.

     Please accept our apologies for the confusion.

Yours sincerely

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
 

 
[3]http://www.bbc.co.uk
This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal
views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system.
Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in
reliance on it and notify the sender immediately.
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References

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