Changes to BBC "blocks"

The request was refused by British Broadcasting Corporation.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

I read this article https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment... with interest. and in particular the first sentence; "The famous BBC logo has had a makeover after audiences told the corporation its services looked "old-fashioned" and "out of date"."

I was not privileged to have been asked what I thought, so please provide the audience data that told the BBC its services looked "old-fashioned" and "out of date". I am particularly interested in whether this information was as a result of a survey (full details please, including sample size, date, geographic location, full results, cost, etc.) or whether "audiences" (how many people?) felt for whatever reason that their unsolicited views should be expressed and, accordingly, acted upon.

If a survey was taken I would also be interested in knowing how to become involved as I would like to express my views to the BBC as and when I can. I am sure somebody there will be interested in what I think.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear A Willmore,

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 21 October 2021. 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 RFI20211597.

Kind regards,

Information Rights

BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP

www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [email address]

show quoted sections

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Wilmore,

Please see the attached.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights

BBC Legal

BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre

201 Wood Lane

London W12 7TP

The information in this email and any attachments is confidential and may
be subject to legal professional or other privilege.

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/

J Flynn left an annotation ()

I would appeal this. The question is not about "journalism, art or literature", it is about branding.

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 'Changes to BBC "blocks"'.

I consider that you have incorrectly dismissed my FOI request. The information I requested concerns branding and marketing and the BBC's appearance to its paying customers, including myself. This appearance is consistently applied across all media platforms, including posters and newspaper advertisements, both of which are not connected with broadcasting electronically. While some at the BBC may well consider the BBC's branding to be an art form, I consider it has nothing at all to do with "journalism, art or literature".

Please review your decision for refusal. I look forward to receiving a comprehensive and prompt reply to my FOI request, and definitely NOT a "we don't review" message.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

Dear FOI Enquiries,

Please do feel free to acknowledge my request for an internal review when you can.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore

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 'Changes to BBC "blocks"'.

Please conduct an internal review of my request for an internal review which, 10 days after it was requested, has yet to even be acknowledged.

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

Yours faithfully,

A Willmore

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear A Willmore,

Thank you for your email.

As mentioned in our FOI response to you, the BBC does not offer internal review where our response should fall outside the scope of the Act, if you are unhappy with our response, you may wish to contact the ICO (details provided in our response letter).

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights
BBC Legal
BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP

show quoted sections

Dear FOI Enquiries,

Thank you. That was exactly the response I was expecting.

Looking again at your original response to my FOI request (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/8...) I note the use of the BBC blocks at the top of the first page you supplied to me. I think they are the old design (I cannot tell the difference), but they will no doubt be updated to the new design in due course as their use spreads across BBC output as a whole, including your FOI request replies.

FOI requests are definitely not "journalism, art or literature".

So I ask again: Excluding their use for journalism, art or literature, I am particularly interested in whether the design change was as a result of a survey (full details please, including sample size, date, geographic location, full results, cost, etc.) or whether "audiences" (how many people?) felt for whatever reason that their unsolicited views should be expressed and, accordingly, acted upon.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore

J Flynn left an annotation ()

FOI requests can definitely be classed as falling under "journalism, art or literature" and the BBC has used this as a valid exemption on many occasions.

However this isn't one of those occasions, as the question is nothing to do with journalism, art or literature. Its about corporate branding and in my opinion they're a) applying an irrelevant exemption and b) using bad practice by not offering an internal review process. Which isn't a legal requirement, but is recommended as good practice by ICO in most circumstances.

A Willmore left an annotation ()

Thank you, that is very interesting and helpful. I wonder if there is anywhere else the blocks are used that cannot fall under J, A or L. Headed note paper maybe? Any suggestions gratefully received.

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear A Willmore,

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 23 November 2021. 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 RFI20211731.

Kind regards,

Information Rights

BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP

www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [email address]

show quoted sections

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

2 Attachments

Dear A Wilmore,

 

Please find attached our response to your request for information
reference RFI20211731.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Rights, BBC Legal

BC2A4 | Broadcast Centre | 201 Wood Lane | London | W12 7TP

[1]Description: \\BBCFS2025\UserData$\myrien01\Documents\My
Pictures\BBC.png

 

 

 

 

References

Visible links

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 'Changes to BBC "blocks"'.

Thank you for your disappointing response. I note your invitation to request an internal review, so here it is.

Many are the times that the BBC has responded to an FOI request asking the requester to refine their question such that it meets the BBC's FOI requirements, usually on cost.

Having refined my original question by adding "Excluding their use for journalism, art or literature" I feel it wrong that you have refused my request on the basis that it is a duplicate. I did not ask the same question twice, therefore it cannot be by definition a duplicate request.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

J Flynn left an annotation ()

I would add that you are asking for the decision to be reviewed on the basis that the exemption of "Information held for the purposes of art, journalism or literature" has been incorrectly applied. This request does not relate to them, as it is about branding.

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

1 Attachment

Dear Mr A Wilmore,

 

We have received your request for an internal review which was received 01
December 2021. We shall deal with the review as promptly as possible and,
aim to respond at the latest, within 20 working days. If you have any
queries please contact us at the address below. 

 

The reference number for your internal review is IR2021088.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Rights, BBC Legal

BC2A4 | Broadcast Centre | 201 Wood Lane | London | W12 7TP

 

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Wilmore,

 

Please see the BBC’s Internal Review of RFI20211731 attached.

 

Sincerely

 

Lawyer

Information Rights

 

From: FOI Enquiries
Sent: 01 December 2021 18:05
To: '[FOI #801404 email]'
<[FOI #801404 email]>
Subject: Internal Review Acknowledgement

 

Dear Mr A Wilmore,

 

We have received your request for an internal review which was received 01
December 2021. We shall deal with the review as promptly as possible and,
aim to respond at the latest, within 20 working days. If you have any
queries please contact us at the address below. 

 

The reference number for your internal review is IR2021088.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Rights, BBC Legal

BC2A4 | Broadcast Centre | 201 Wood Lane | London | W12 7TP

 

 

A Willmore left an annotation ()

I went to the ICO with this one:

"The Commissioner appreciates that you have concerns about branding but the Commissioner can only consider concerns within the scope of the FOIA. The Commissioner is unable to compel the public authority to provide information outside its obligations under FOIA."