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Information Rights
bbc.co.uk/foi
bbc.co.uk/privacy
Nathan Gregory
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx 25 July 2019
Dear Mr Gregory
Request for Information – RFI20191088
Thank you for your fol ow up request to the BBC of 26th June 2019 under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (‘the Act’) for the following information:
“Please provide me with information you hold regarding you wanting to commission a replacement
for the TVL database LASSY.
LASSY by its nature is very old and I am aware over the last 10 years there has been talk of
replacing LASSY with a new system.
My request for information is about this, including reasons why a replacement is needed and
deficiencies of the legacy system.
Should you say my request is too broad, then you must make helpful suggestions on what is within
the limit although I don't think it should be.”
Please note that “TV Licensing” is a trade mark used by companies contracted by the BBC to
administer the collection of television licence fees and enforcement of the television licensing
system. The majority of the administration of TV Licensing is contracted to Capita Business
Services Ltd (‘Capita’). Over-the-counter services are provided by PayPoint plc (‘PayPoint’) in the
UK, and by the Post Office in the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. Target Group (‘Target’) is the
supplier for the Simple Payment Plan trial. Marketing and printing services are contracted to
Proximity London Ltd. Media services are contracted to Media Planning Limited trading as Havas
Media UK. The BBC is a public authority in respect of its television licensing functions and retains
overall responsibility.
By way of background, I should note that it is normal practice for a large organisation to deliberate
its practices and systems, to consider whether they are up to date and fit for purpose.
Nevertheless, I can tel you that there is no intention to replace the TV Licensing database
(LASSY).
As you are aware, the Act gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held
by public authorities; and we are not required to create new information to respond to a request,
or give a judgement or opinion that is not already recorded. This is not a request for recorded
information, rather a query seeking answers to supplementary questions. Accordingly, the BBC
does not consider this to be a valid request under section 8 of the Act.
Under our duty to advise and assist you, please be advised that the nature of your query is
extremely broad and open to interpretation; and would entail searching a vast volume of
potentially relevant emails and documents to identify and excavate specific information we
consider relevant.
For more information and guidance about how to submit a request, please visit:
https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/official-information/. We would be happy to consider a valid request, however, please note that a request for recorded
information pertaining to this particular area of interest is likely to involve historical information
that would require a manual search of emails and files. As you are aware, under section 12 of the
Act, we are allowed to refuse to handle a request if locating and extracting relevant information
would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of two and a half days.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied that we have complied with the Act in responding to your request, you
have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser. Please contact us at
the address above, explaining what you would like us to review and including your reference
number. If you are not satisfied with the 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, Tel: 0303 123 1113 or see
https://ico.org.uk/. Yours sincerely
Rupinder Panesar
Freedom of Information Advisor, TV Licensing Management Team
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