Licence Fee Unit customer management system

The request was partially successful.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

The BBC's latest Annual Report (http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/r...) states the following on page 91 under Audit and Risk Committee Report:

"We ... have also this year spent considerable time reviewing issues and projects related to the Licence Fee Unit (LFU). This included the decision, taken in December, to cancel the implementation of a new customer management system in the LFU, due to unacceptable delays and increases in costs against the original plan. This was a decision we looked at in some detail and commissioned a thorough piece of work to establish what happened in relation to this specific project and what lessons could be learned from it for other such projects in the BBC."

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 please supply the following information:
1) The total cost to the BBC of the LFU customer management system up to its cancellation in December.
2) The total cost to the BBC of the "thorough piece of work" review of this project.
3) A copy (a .PDF file is acceptable) copy of the "through piece of work" review.

I look forward to a prompt and informative response.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear Mr 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 25 January 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 RFI20210164.

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]

show quoted sections

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Willmore,

 

Thank you for your request to the BBC of 25 January 2021 under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (‘the Act’) seeking the following information.

 

“The BBC's latest Annual Report
([1]http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/r...)
states the following on page 91 under Audit and Risk Committee Report:

           

"We ... have also this year spent considerable time reviewing issues and
projects related to the Licence Fee Unit (LFU). This included the
decision, taken in December, to cancel the implementation of a new
customer management system in the LFU, due to unacceptable delays and
increases in costs against the original plan. This was a decision we
looked at in some detail and commissioned a thorough piece of work to
establish what happened in relation to this specific project and what
lessons could be learned from it for other such projects in the BBC."

           

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 please supply the following
information:

1) The total cost to the BBC of the LFU customer management system up to
its cancellation in December.

2) The total cost to the BBC of the "thorough piece of work" review of
this project.

3) A copy (a .PDF file is acceptable) copy of the "through piece of work"
review.”

 

The BBC confirms that it does hold information of the type described in
these parts of your request. However, when a qualified exemption applies
to the information and the public interest test is engaged, section 10 of
the Act allows the time for a response to be longer than 20 working days.
A full response must be provided within such time as is reasonable in all
circumstances of the case.

 

We consider that the following exemption applies to the information you
have requested:

 

o Section 43 – Commercial interests

 

We now need further time in which to consider the public interest in
disclosing the information. In your case we have not yet reached a
decision on where the balance of the public interest lies.

 

Appeal Rights

 

You may request an internal review of our decision to extend the time
period for handling your request, by contacting us at the address above.
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, telephone 01625 545 700 or see [2]www.ico.org.uk

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights, BBC Legal

BC2A4, Broadcast Centre

201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TP

 

 

 

 

References

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1. http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/r...
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Willmore,

 

Please find attached our response to your request for information,
reference RFI20210164. Please accept our apologies for the delay in
responding to your request.

 

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

 

show quoted sections

References

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2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Dear FOI Enquiries,

Thank you for your response to my recent FOI request, which you chose to refuse.

The Daily Express reported that it was £7million that was wasted on this project (https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/133682...). I chose to not believe this figure, hence my request for an accurate figure.

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 'Licence Fee Unit customer management system'.

The amount spent on the LFU's customer management system has been widely reported in the UK, including here: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/133682...

My request was made in the hope that the BBC would provide accurate figures on the amount of money spent (I'll resist the temptation to use the word wasted, or perhaps I won't) on this failed project that might - just - justify the BBC's good management in pulling the plug prematurely. Such things happen in large organisations for good reason, including previously at the BBC with the Digital Media Initiative project from a few years ago. You chose to not disclose the costing information as it would damage the BBC's business reputation and weaken its bargaining position but leaving the BBC open to justified criticism from those of us that are forced to fund it.

Item 3 of my original request requested a copy of the "thorough piece of work" review. Again, this was not provided in your response. It exists, as it is mentioned in the Annual Report, and I would still like a copy, please.

As part of this internal review then I would like you to:
- Review your decision to withhold details of the total cost to the BBC of the LFU customer management system up to its cancellation in December.
- Provide me with a copy (a .PDF file is acceptable) copy of the "through piece of work" review, as requested and not specifically denied.

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

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

1 Attachment

Dear Mr A Willmore

 

Thank you for your request for an internal review which was received on 26
April 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 IR2021047.

 

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

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

1 Attachment

Dear Mr A Willmore

 

Thank you for your request for an internal review which was received on 26
April 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 IR2021047.

 

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 FOI Enquiries,

I calculate that 26 working days have now passed since you received my request for an internal review. Please advise the current status of my internal review's progress.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore

Dear FOI Enquiries,

I calculate that it is now 32 working days that have passed since you received my request for an internal review. Please advise the current status of my internal review's progress.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore

Dear FOI Enquiries,

To be clear, at this stage I am only asking for a progress report for the internal review I requested 35 days ago, and not the contents of the internal review itself, although that information would be appreciated.

Is it possible to request an internal review of the handling of an internal review? If not, perhaps it should be.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore

British Broadcasting Corporation

2 Attachments

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Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2021 20:01:37 +0100
From: A Willmore <[FOI #721377 email]>
To: FOI Enquiries <[email address]>
Message-ID: <[email address]>
Subject: Re: IR2021047- Internal Review acknowledgement
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1. mailto:[email address]

Sent a follow up to British Broadcasting Corporation again.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

Just in case you did not receive my message from two days ago...

To be clear, at this stage I am only asking for a progress report for the internal review I requested 35 (now 37) days ago, and not the contents of the internal review itself, although that information would be appreciated.

Is it possible to request an internal review of the handling of an internal review? If not, perhaps it should be.

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 'Licence Fee Unit customer management system'.

It is now near enough 40 working days since you received my request for an internal review in to the handling of my FOI request RFI20210164 Licence Fee Unit customer management system. Since my request for an internal review you have chosen to not respond in your stated "within 20 working days" timescale or to any of my follow-up requests for a status report on its progress.

Before I report this unexplained delay to the ICO please conduct an internal review in to the handling of my internal review requested on 26th April.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

Due to the lack of any response from yourselves I have reported this matter to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Willmore

 

I refer to your request for an internal review of the BBC’s decision with
respect to your FOI request (references: RFI20210164 / IR2021047).

 

Please see attached the BBC’s internal review decision. We apologise for
the delay in providing our response, and we thank you for your
understanding.

 

Kind regards

 

Information Rights

 

BBC Freedom of Information

BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre

201 Wood Lane

London W12 7TP

 

Website: [1]www.bbc.co.uk/foi

Email: [2]mailto:[email address]

 

From: FOI Enquiries
Sent: 28 April 2021 17:48
To: A Willmore <[FOI #721377 email]>
Subject: IR2021047- Internal Review acknowledgement

 

Dear Mr A Willmore

 

Thank you for your request for an internal review which was received on 26
April 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 IR2021047.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Rights, BBC Legal

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

 

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

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2. mailto:[email address]

Dear FOI Enquiries,

Thank you for results of your internal review, received by my reckoning some 45 days after you received my request. I can probably guess why it was delayed for over double the specified time but the reasons behind your refusal when prompted to provide updates on its progress remain a mystery to me.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore