Freedom of Information
Internal Review decision
Internal Reviewer
Katherine Leslie, Advisor – Freedom of Information &
Contentious Data Protection
Reference
IR2016043 (RFI20160796)
Date
7 June 2016
Requested information
On 10 April 2016 the applicant, S Craig via
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/, sought the
following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
How much did the BBC spend (in total and broken down by meeting) on internal hospitality in
2015/16 for
(a)
News Board and Management Team meetings?
(b)
Executive Board/Team and sub-committee meetings?
On 5 May 2016 the BBC refused to handle the request under section 12 of the Act as the BBC
estimated that it would take more than two and a half day to comply with the request.
Scope of the internal review On 10 May 2016 the applicant requested an internal review stating:
It is not credible that it would take more than two and a half days to answer this question.
These two boards meet on a limited number of dates scheduled during the years. Checking
purchase orders for those dates is a simple task.
They may not be charged against a single hospitality code but they will be charged against
very few charge codes and by a small number of individuals.
Checking the invoices for these meeting dates raised by one or two people is not an onerous
request.
The BBC managed to do so last year: RFI20150585.
The issue to be considered is whether the BBC correctly applied section 12(1) of the Act on the basis
that compliance with the request would exceed the appropriate limit of 18 hours.1
Decision
I reviewed the Information Commissioner’s guidance on the application of section 12.2 I also liaised
with BBC employees from Workplace (the Finance team), BBC News and the Executive support
teams who have knowledge of how the relevant information is recorded and held, and I spoke with
those who handled the applicant’s 10 April 2016 FOI request.
It appears that on there had been a miss-understanding about what information was requested from
the applicant, and the request was interpreted wider than necessary. I am satisfied that there was
no deliberate intention to withhold the information requested, and section 12 was applied in error. I
have therefore reconsidered the applicant’s request in its entirety and respond below to some of the
issues raised by the applicant.
The applicant requested the BBC’s spend on internal hospitality from the meetings of two BBC’s
boards; the News Board and the Executive Board (and also the Executive team’s sub-committee
meetings). While the request is limited in scope to two boards, the process to retrieve and extract
the relevant information is not a “simple task”, as the applicant suggested.
A number of steps have to be completed to locate the information, which includes manually
extracting the cost of the hospitality from each meeting from the data spreadsheet by charge code
and date. To manually extract the data, at a minimum the following information is required:
The names of the BBC employees who organised the hospitality for the relevant boards;
The correct charge codes;
The dates all the relevant meetings were held; and
The supplier of the catering.
Despite the number of steps involved to extract the data, BBC Workplace reviewed the applicant’s
request. The requested information was extracted within the appropriate limit of 18 hours.
In line with the section 1(1) of the Act, I confirm that the BBC holds the requested information and
the information held by the BBC is provided below to the applicant.
Requested information
(a) The BBC holds the following information in relation to spending on internal hospitality for
the News Group meetings in 2015/2016:
1 The appropriate limit is defined in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and
Fees) Regulations 2004. The appropriate limit for the BBC is £450 (equivalent to 18 hours work at an hourly
rate of £25).
2 See the Information Commissioner’s Guidance available a
t: https://ico.org.uk/media/for-
organisations/documents/1199/costs_of_compliance_exceeds_appropriate_limit.pdf
2
Date of the News Group Spend on internal
Board’s meetings
hospitality
29/04/2015
£18.55
18/05/2015
£18.55
08/06/2015*
£191.4
23/06/2015
£26.5
22/07/2015
£18.55
02/09/2015
£10.6
13/10/2015
£10.6
25/11/2015
£10.6
10/12/2015
£10.6
19/01/2016
£10.6
05/02/2016
£10.6
16/03/2016
£10.6
Total
£347.75
*On 8 June 2015 the News Group Board held an away-day at the BBC’s Television Centre.
(b) Meetings of the Executive Board take place monthly and are often all day activities, with
Board meetings followed directly by committee meetings. On occasion, the BBC provides a
working lunch for the Board when it meets. A wide ranging number of people attend the
Board and we will cater for different numbers each month. The BBC holds the following
information in relation to spending on internal hospitality for the Executive Board and sub-
committee meetings:
Date of the Executive Spend
on
internal
Board
and
sub- hospitality
Committee’s meetings
14/04/2015
£320.30
12/05/2015
£210.75
09/06/2015
£179.50
07/07/2015
£10.60
01/09/2015
£10.60
13/10/2015
£149.75
21/10/2105
£10.60
04/11/2015
£10.60
5/11/2015
£10.60
8/12/2015
£391.15
26/01/2016
£15.90
9/02/2016
£15.90
22/3/2016
£15.90
Total
£1,352.15
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Press statement
If you are intending to use the information provided here for publication, we have provided a
previous quote from a BBC Spokesperson that should be included in any article:
“These meetings can be lengthy and substantive, with attendees having to work through
lunch so limited food or refreshments are provided.”
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your 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 545 745 or
www.ico.gov.uk.
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