Over 75s TV licence letter

The request was successful.

Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,

BBC web site page https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/... states:
- "We will be sending letters from August ..."
- "Our letter will explain what you need to provide to get your free licence."
- "You do not need to do anything, or pay anything, until you get our letter."
- "We will also cancel your licence if you do not reply to our letter ..."
etc.

Please provide me with a copy of the letter that will be or has been sent to those who need to receive it. Depending on which news media outlet I choose to believe, I understand the letter is anything between 10 and 16 pages in length.

Please also include any major variations of this letter should they exist, although I only require the English text.

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. Your request was received on 8 August 2020. 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 below address.

The reference number for your request is RFI20201184.

Yours sincerely

Information Rights, BBC Legal
BC2A4 | Broadcast Centre | 201 Wood Lane | London | W12 7TP

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Dear FOI Enquiries,

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana" so the old saying goes, and time is doing exactly that.

It is now one week since, by law, I should have received (by 7th September) a response to this FOI request, but I have yet to receive any communication from you at all. I find this puzzling as the text of the letter I requested was being sent to its recipients "from August" according to https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/...

Please provide the requested information by return.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore

Dear FOI Enquiries,

I note the following from your reply to RFI20201266 published yesterday: "Please also note that TV Licensing has been writing to over 75s households since August".

I am still waiting but my request, submitted 29 working days ago, is for a copy of the letter to which you refer.

For a letter that has been in circulation "since August" I am at a loss on 19th September to understand what could possibly be causing the delay to your response.

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 'Over 75s TV licence letter'.

No less than 34 working days have passed since you received my request for information, and I have yet to receive one jot of information from you. I have not even received the courtesy of an explanation for the delayed reply, despite prompting you to do so.

Please conduct an internal review of your handling of my request. I still require the information I requested on 8th August so please do not let the internal review impact on that apparently painfully slow process.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

Dear A Willmore,

We apologise for the delay in responding to your request. The BBC cannot offer an internal review until a response to a request has been sent. We are working on your request and we appreciate your patience. As soon as the response is ready it will be sent to you.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights, BBC Legal
BC2A4 | Broadcast Centre | 201 Wood Lane | London | W12 7TP

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Dear FOI Enquiries,

Thank you for your recent response. This was my mistake. I learn something new every day.

However, thirty seven working days after receiving my request the BBC has failed to provide either a response or valid refusal notice to my request for information, RFI20201184. The relevant legislation states that such a response is required within 20 working days.

The BBC is in breach of section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I am at a complete loss to understand why it is proving so difficult to provide a copy of a document that is, according to yourselves, already in the public domain and has been since August. An explanation for the delay would help to allay my frustration at this incredibly s-l-o-w process.

Please provide a response or valid refusal notice at the earliest opportunity.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore

Dear FOI Enquiries,

No less than 42 working days have now passed since I submitted my original request for, what I thought, would be the simple task of sending me the text of a letter that has been in the public domain since August. I have not received the information I requested.

I have today passed the details of my request to the Information Commissioner's Office for their attention.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Willmore

FOI Enquiries, British Broadcasting Corporation

3 Attachments

Dear A Willmore

 

Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20201184.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to your FOI
response.

 

Kind regards

 

Information Rights

 

BBC Freedom of Information

BC2 A4, Broadcast Centre

201 Wood Lane

London W12 7TP

 

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

Email: [2][BBC request email]

[3]cid:image001.png@01D2EE68.C9C0F040

 

 

 

References

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A Willmore left an annotation ()

Proverbial blood out of the proverbial stone.