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Information Rights
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Mr A Willmore
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
15 February 2021
Dear Mr Willmore
Freedom of Information request – RFI20210118
Thank you for your request to the BBC of 18th January 2021 seeking the following information
under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000:
I read today in various non-BBC news outlets of the appointment of Mr Ken MacQuarrie as
Executive Sponsor Safeguarding Impartiality with a salary of £325,000.
I have been told many, many times by BBC Complaints that the BBC is impartial, so I am puzzled
as to why the BBC needs to appoint somebody to perform a task that already occurs, and I am at a
loss to work out exactly what Mr MacQuarrie will be doing.
Please provide me with a copy of the job description that relates to the post of Executive Sponsor
Safeguarding Impartiality.
In response to your request as announced in September, Ken MacQuarrie will leave the BBC
this year after delivering new measures to reaffirm the Corporation’s commitment to
impartiality with the Director-General and Director of Editorial Policy. He is also working on a
number of other key corporate projects and ensuring a smooth transition with the new
Director of Nations.
As this is a temporary project role, there is no job description. However, the background on the
Impartiality measures can be found at the following link;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/impartiality-measures As set out in section 6(1)(b)(i ) of the Act, our subsidiaries (including BBC Studioworks Limited,
UKTV, BBC Global News Ltd and BBC Studios Ltd), as well as the charities BBC Media Action
and BBC Children in Need, are not subject to the Act. As such, information relating to these
entities is not considered in the above response.
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us at the address above, explaining what you would like us to review and including your
reference number. A request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of
receiving the BBC’s response to your original request.
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 s
ee https://ico.org.uk/.
Yours sincerely,
BBC HR
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