Freedom of Information
Internal Review decision
Internal Reviewer
Lawyer – Legal Information Rights
Reference
IR2017085/RFI20171396
Date
19 December 2017
Requested information
By a request dated 18 September 2017 the requester, sought the following
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
I understand ‘Fawlty Towers’ has been produced and performed for the stage. Has the BBC
or BBC Worldwide granted a licence to Mr John Cleese or Mr Phil McIntyre, or any other
third party to use the BBC’s ‘FAWLTY TOWERS’ trademark?
The BBC acknowledged the request, indicating it had been received by the
Information Rights team on 18 September 2017.
On 30 November 2017 the requester wrote to the BBC seeking an internal review
indicating that the response was overdue.
Issues on review
The issues to be considered upon review is whether the BBC complied with its
obligation under s10(1) of the Act to respond to a valid request
“promptly and in any
event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt”, i.e. by 16
October 2017?
Decision
The BBC failed to comply with its obligations under the Act, in particular under
s10(1), in respect of this request. I apologise to the requester for this delay, and for
the BBC’s failure to adequately update the requester as to the progress of the
request.
I note that the BBC provided a substantive response to the request on 30
November 2017.
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 545 700 or
www.ico.gov.uk