I fought the BBC and... won

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IC2010016_-_final_response_to_requestor.pdf (49 KB)
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Note: It is notoriously hard to get the BBC to release information via the Freedom of Information Act due to an exception in the preamble of the Act which enables them to avoid requests that relate to 'journalism, art or literature' - which they take to mean 'any damn thing we feel like not releasing'.

I appreciate that this seems like a small and hollow victory, yet this shows several things:

1.  The BBC spends money on local advertising which has no effect whatsoever on the number of listeners.

2.  It doesn't matter if it is £100 or £1million, the BBC is wasting public money.

3.  The BBC's continued insistence that requests for information can be avoided on a whim is essentially unsustainable.

Filed under  //  BBC   Freedom of Information  
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Posted by Joe Turner 

use of military fire engines in civilian emergencies

Click here to download:
20101201_64083_Response_Turner_Final_U.pdf (52 KB)
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Posted by Joe Turner 

International Bone Marrow

Click here to download:
Ref_392744_100726.pdf (113 KB)
(download)
Click here to download:
TurneyJRpy.pdf (41 KB)
(download)
These are some recent responses I received about international bone marrow donations.  NHS Blood and Transport stated that they charged £1,631,356 in 2009/10 for the supply of 143, of which 57 were for international patients at a cost of £772,956 - this meant that 86 to UK recipients cost £858400.   So on average each donation costs very close to £10,000 (£9981).

NHS National Services Scotland stated to me that between April 2008 to March 2009 there were 29 transplants which cost them £755,946, of which 11 were from international donors.

This means 18 donations were from the UK and should have cost around £180,000.  So the international donations cost £575,946 - which is approximately £52,350 per donation.

This is not an exact science because neither of the bodies keep detailed records.

But it appears that the UK is charged 5 times as much for international donations as the NHS charge other countries.

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Posted by Joe Turner 

graph

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barplot.pdf (2 KB)
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Posted by Joe Turner 

Foreign users of British bone marrow register

Click here to download:
TurnerJoeRpy.pdf (40 KB)
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----- Original message -----
To: joe@j-n-turner.co.uk
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:06:01 +0100
Subject: Response from the National Blood Service

Our ref: FOI/SF/180461 

 

Dear Mr Turner 

Please see attached response from the NHS Blood and Transplant.

If you have any further queries, please contact our customer services department on 0208 271 6343.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Pearce

Head of Donor Advocacy

 

E-mail: customer.services@nbs.nhs.uk

 

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NHS Blood and Transplant
Do something amazing today - Give Blood.
Organ donation. The gift of life.
You can visit us at www.nhsbt.nhs.uk
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The views expressed in this e-mail are those of the sender, and not necessarily those of NHS Blood and Transplant.
This text confirms that this e-mail message and its attachments have been swept for the presence of computer viruses by NHS Blood and Transplant, however we cannot guarantee that they are virus free.
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Posted by Joe Turner 

FS50302135: BBC[Ref. FS50302135]

----- Original message -----
Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 08:58:28 +0100
Subject: FS50302135: BBC[Ref. FS50302135]

7th May 2010

Case Reference Number FS50302135

Dear Mr Turner

Further to our previous correspondence regarding your complaint against the BBC, I am writing to inform you that your case has now been allocated the BBC team for investigation.

You made your request to the BBC on 10 March 2010 for the following information:

"Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information about BBC Coventry and Warwickshire:

a) the annual budgets of the station since it began in 2005

b) the annual external advertising budgets (ie paid advertising for the BBC C and W programmes outside of the BBC broadcasts) for the station over the same time period."

The BBC responded on 17 March 2010 and has relied on the 'derogation' to withhold the information you requested. Part VI of Schedule 1 of the Act states that the BBC is a public authority 'in respect of information held for purposes other than journalism, art and literature'. This is commonly referred to as the Schedule 1 derogation.

The scope of the derogation has recently been considered by the High Court in the cases of the BBC vs. Steven Sugar and The Information Commissioner (EW2349) and the BBC vs. the Information Commissioner (EW2348). In both decisions Mr Justice Irwin found:

"My conclusion is that the words in the Schedule mean the BBC has no obligation to disclose information which they hold to any significant extent for the purposes of journalism, art or literature, whether or not the information is also held for other purposes. The words do not mean that the information is disclosable if it is held for purposes distinct from journalism, art or literature, whilst it is also held to any significant extent for those purposes. If the information is held for mixed purposes, including to any significant extent the purposes listed in the Schedule or one of them, then the information is not disclosable." (para 65 EA2349 and para 73 EW2348).

The Commissioner interprets the phrase "to any significant extent", when taken in the context of the judgement as a whole, to mean that where the requested information is held to a more than trivial or insignificant extent for journalistic, artistic or literary purposes, the BBC will not be obliged to comply with Parts I to V of the Act.  This is the case even if the information is also held for other purposes.

Thus, provided there is a link between the information and one of the purposes listed in Schedule 1, then the information is derogated and not disclosable. This approach is supported by Mr Justice Irwin's comments on the link between operational information, such as programme costs and budgets, and creative output:

"It seems to me difficult to say that information held for 'operational' purposes is not held for the 'purposes of journalism, art or literature." (para 87)

It is not necessary to consider whether the information itself is journalistic, artistic or literary but rather whether it is held for one of these purposes. It is also not necessary to identify for which purpose(s) the information is held: it is sufficient to simply identify the link between the information requested and one of the derogated purposes.

The two High Court decisions related to information falling within the following categories:

×           Salaries of presenters / talent

×           Total staff costs of programmes

×           Programme budgets

×           Programme costs

×           Payments to other production companies for programmes

×           Payments to secure coverage of sporting events

×           Content of programmes / coverage of issues within programmes

In relation to all of the above Mr Justice Irwin found that the information was held for the purpose of journalism, art or literature and that therefore the BBC did not have to disclose the requested information.

The information you have requested can be categorised as falling within the category of programme costs as it is information regarding the budget of a programme or station and the cost of advertising such a programme or station.

It is my view that the information you have requested falls within the definition of information held for the purpose of journalism, art or literature as it is a request for information about programme costs. Although the information might also be held for other purposes as the request is for information held for one of the derogated purposes the BBC do not have to provide the information you have requested.  

In light of the above I will be recommending to the Commissioner that he upholds the BBC's handling of your request.

 

I would appreciate if you could confirm to me whether you wish to continue with your complaint or if you now wish to withdraw your complaint. I would be grateful if you could respond as soon as possible and in any case no later than ten working days from receipt of this email / letter. If I do not hear from you within this timeframe I will consider the complaint withdrawn.

Yours sincerely

Rachael Cragg

FOI Team Leader – BBC

Information Commissioner's Office


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Posted by Joe Turner 

FOI Request, Ref: 0304-10, Joe Turner

Click here to download:
foi request - turner - bbcws Response (2).doc (60 KB)
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Filed under  //  BBC  
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Posted by Joe Turner 

F2010-080 Freedom of Information request

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F2010-080 response.doc (70 KB)
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Posted by Joe Turner 

FOI - IMF and world Bank

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foi-tur.pdf (779 KB)
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.

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Posted by Joe Turner 

FOI: aircraft holding times

Click here to download:
20100323ReplyLetter.doc (47 KB)
(download)

So now you know..

Filed under  //  CAA   airline   airport  
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Posted by Joe Turner