John Sweeney "on expenses, in a boozer"
Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,
Following my viewing of YouTube video https://youtu.be/HBYcxOeZxro?t=5 I submitted a complaint to the BBC concerning misuse of TV Licence payers' money (ref. CAS-5316034). This morning I received a reply from BBC Complaints in which they told me "The BBC has a strict expenses policy - the food and drink bill in this video was entirely paid for by John.".
Mr Sweeney is a leading player in the BBC News team and his integrity has, until now, been beyond reproach. He clearly states that he is "on expenses" and he gives me no reason to disbelieve him. Assuming Mr Sweeney is not a liar, and I am not for one moment suggesting that he might be, I am left to conclude that he submitted an expenses claim and then subsequently reimbursed the BBC.
If I am correct in my conclusion I would be grateful if you would provide copies of the relevant paperwork for this one single event.
If I am incorrect I would be grateful for clarification of what actually happened.
Yours faithfully,
Mr A Willmore
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 27/02/19. 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 RFI20190374.
Kind regards,
Information Rights
BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP
www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2882
Dear FOI Enquiries,
Please also include the text of John Sweeney's apology for his "offensive and inappropriate remarks" in your reply. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Mr A Willmore
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please find attached our response to your request for information
reference RFI20190374.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights, BBC Legal
BC2A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TP
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References
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2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Dear FOI Enquiries,
Thank you for the disappointing but not surprising response to my FOI request. It does at least confirm one thing: That John Sweeney was indulging in alcohol while "at work" doing journalism while "in a boozer, on expenses" and not doing this during his own free time. I thank you for that clarification and I shall look at his future contributions to BBC journalism with that in mind.
However, I draw your attention to the last sentence of my FOI request, viz. “Please also include the text of John Sweeney's apology for his "offensive and inappropriate remarks" in your reply.”. The requested text was not in your reply. I consider Sweeney's apology to be a matter of public record as it is mentioned on a public BBC web page (http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complain...). I would still like to know what Sweeney apologised for and the wording he used. Please provide the text of Sweeney's apology by return. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Mr A Willmore
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 14/03/19. 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 RFI20190487.
Kind regards,
Information Rights
BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP
www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2882
Dear Mr Wilmore,
Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20190487.
Yours sincerely
BBC Information Rights
Room BC2 A4
Broadcast Centre
White City
London
W12 7TS
UK
Website: [1]www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [2]mailto:[BBC request email]
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Pictures\BBC.png
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.bbc.co.uk/foi
2. mailto:[BBC request email]
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/
A Willmore left an annotation ()
"The Commissioner’s decision is that this information is held by the BBC for the purposes of journalism, art or literature and does not fall within the scope of FOIA. She therefore upholds the BBC’s position and requires no remedial steps to be taken."
So, it appears we may never know who Sweeney apologised to and what he apologised for.
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A Willmore left an annotation ()
This one is going to the ICO.