Climate Change Seminar, 26 January 2006
Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,
I am making this request for information under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The BBC hosted a climate change seminar at Television Centre on 26th January 2006. Blogger Tony Newbery subsequently used the Freedom of Information Act to ask the BBC for a list of attendees at the seminar. The BBC tried its utmost to avoid disclosure of that information, even going as far as an Information Tribunal. The Tribunal ruled in favour of the BBC.
In what must have been a sickening twist of fate for the BBC, the list of attendees at the seminar was available online all the time at the following location: http://web.archive.org/web/2007110815395...
Curiously the list doesn't appear at that location any more.
Under the terms of the 2000 Act, please provide all BBC produced/held information relating to the publication/removal of this attendance list from the Internet Archive. As you're aware, this includes all relevant information held in BBC staff email accounts.
I look forward to your response.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Jones
Dear Mr Jones,
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 8th June 2013. 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 RFI20130822.
Kind regards
The Information Policy & Compliance Team
BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 B6, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP
www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [email address]
Tel: 020 8008 2882
Dear Mr Jones,
I apologise for the error in the below acknowledgement. Your request was received on 9th June 2013.
Kind regards,
The Information Policy & Compliance Team
Dear Mr Jones,
Please find attached the response to your request for information, reference RFI20130822.
Yours sincerely,
The Information Policy and Compliance Team
BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room BC2 B6 Broadcast Centre
Wood Lane
London W12 7TP
Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: mailto:[email address]
Tel: 020 8008 2882
Fax: 020 8008 2398
Dear FOI Enquiries,
How predictable: the moment a potentially embarrassing request for information comes along the BBC wheels out the derogation. I find your over zealous use of the derogation "pernicious and spurious", to quote a well-known BBC grandee.
Please conduct an internal review into your handling of this request, RFI20130822.
The basis of my review request is as follows:
- The BBC's assertion that it holds the information requested for the purposes of journalism, art or literature is farcical. The BBC point blank refuses to divulge any information it holds about this Climate Change Seminar - that being the case how can they now argue it is related to their "creative output", when they clearly have no intention of "outputting" anything about it via their different media streams?
- I consider most of the information requested, which I do not doubt that the BBC holds, will originate from that legitimately posted on a third-party (non-BBC) website. It is not therefore within the BBC's remit to protect any of that information using the derogation.
I'd appreciate if you'd just cut to the chase, consider how weak your use of the derogation is in this case, and provide the information as required to by law.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Jones
A Willmore left an annotation ()
I'd be surprised if you get your review: "The BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the Act.".
I think you need to pass this one to the ICO.
Peter Jones left an annotation ()
I didn't read that bit.
I saw their crappy canned response and glazed over at that point.
So the BBC could, and do, claim that any request is outside the scope of the Act.
I think we all know that they just don't want to respond at any costs.
I will have to think about what to do next, because I know the ICO is almost as useless as the BBC.
Silent Truth left an annotation ()
I believe this is the list you are requesting:
January 26th 2006,
BBC Television Centre, London
Specialists:
Robert May, Oxford University and Imperial College London
Mike Hulme, Director, Tyndall Centre, UEA
Blake Lee-Harwood, Head of Campaigns, Greenpeace
Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen
Michael Bravo, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
Andrew Dlugolecki, Insurance industry consultant
Trevor Evans, US Embassy
Colin Challen MP, Chair, All Party Group on Climate Change
Anuradha Vittachi, Director, Oneworld.net
Andrew Simms, Policy Director, New Economics Foundation
Claire Foster, Church of England
Saleemul Huq, IIED
Poshendra Satyal Pravat, Open University
Li Moxuan, Climate campaigner, Greenpeace China
Tadesse Dadi, Tearfund Ethiopia
Iain Wright, CO2 Project Manager, BP International
Ashok Sinha, Stop Climate Chaos
Andy Atkins, Advocacy Director, Tearfund
Matthew Farrow, CBI
Rafael Hidalgo, TV/multimedia producer
Cheryl Campbell, Executive Director, Television for the Environment
Kevin McCullough, Director, Npower Renewables
Richard D North, Institute of Economic Affairs
Steve Widdicombe, Plymouth Marine Labs
Joe Smith, The Open University
Mark Galloway, Director, IBT
Anita Neville, E3G
Eleni Andreadis, Harvard University
Jos Wheatley, Global Environment Assets Team, DFID
Tessa Tennant, Chair, AsRia
BBC attendees:
Jana Bennett, Director of Television
Sacha Baveystock, Executive Producer, Science
Helen Boaden, Director of News
Andrew Lane, Manager, Weather, TV News
Anne Gilchrist, Executive Editor Indies & Events, CBBC
Dominic Vallely, Executive Editor, Entertainment
Eleanor Moran, Development Executive, Drama Commissioning
Elizabeth McKay, Project Executive, Education
Emma Swain, Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual
Fergal Keane, (Chair), Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Fran Unsworth, Head of Newsgathering
George Entwistle, Head of TV Current Affairs
Glenwyn Benson, Controller, Factual TV
John Lynch, Creative Director, Specialist Factual
Jon Plowman, Head of Comedy
Jon Williams, TV Editor Newsgathering
Karen O’Connor, Editor, This World, Current Affairs
Catriona McKenzie, Tightrope Pictures
Liz Molyneux, Editorial Executive, Factual Commissioning
Matt Morris, Head of News, Radio Five Live
Neil Nightingale, Head of Natural History Unit
Paul Brannan, Deputy Head of News Interactive
Peter Horrocks, Head of Television News
Peter Rippon, Duty Editor, World at One/PM/The World this Weekend
Phil Harding, Director, English Networks & Nations
Steve Mitchell, Head Of Radio News
Sue Inglish, Head Of Political Programmes
Frances Weil, Editor of News Special Events
Peter Jones left an annotation ()
Thanks for that, but I have the list already. It has been retweeted over and over again, which makes it even more farcical that the BBC are still playing dumb.
The matter is whether or not the BBC has decided to censor the web. I think they have.
Dear Mr Jones,
Thank you for your further email, below.
I was sorry to read of your dissatisfaction with the BBC's response. For
your convenience, I have reiterated your appeal rights below.
Appeal Rights
The BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested
is not covered by the Act. If you disagree with our decision you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF telephone 01625 545 700. www.ico.org.uk
Please note that should the Information Commissioner’s Office decide that
the Act does cover this information, exemptions under the Act might then
apply.
I hope ths information is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
The Information Policy and Compliance Team
BBC Information Policy and Compliance
Room BC2 B6 Broadcast Centre
Wood Lane
London W12 7TP
Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: mailto:[email address]
Tel: 020 8008 2882
Fax: 020 8008 2398
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Peter Jones left an annotation ()
This request was brought to you by the TV Licensing Blog: http://tv-licensing.blogspot.co.uk
We're here to highlight the unjust persecution of legitimate non-TV users at the hands of TV Licensing and the BBC.
Anyone seeking further information please contact us via the blog.