Monday
Jan212013
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Lord Patten's diary
A couple of interesting little snippets at a BBC-focused blog called Trading as WDR. The author has obtained some excerpts from the diary of BBC chairman Lord Patten under FOI.
These include meetings with Stephen Lovegrove, who has subsequently been appointed Permanent Secretary at DECC, and also with Lord Deben, who needs no introduction here. Lovegrove is married to a screenwriter, and has a background in media consultancy, so there may well be no climate connection.
Reader Comments (5)
19th November
The BBC contested an FOI request by Mr Tony Newbery for details of
attendees at the BBC's 2006 Climate Change - the Challenge to Broadcasting
seminar.
Please disclose all the expenses incurred by the BBC in contesting the
FOI request, including legal advice, barrister's fees, court fees..etc.
Still waiting!
Waiting for BBC: That's long overdue now. Can they use the "it's journalism" get out of jail card to justify refusing your request? Presumably not, or they would have played it by now.
They said they were very busy with FOI requests, though I'm waiting for their get our clause.
From their FOI log, how can they justify spending on drinks as an exemption, held for the purposes of ‘journalism, art or literature. ?
"BBC expenditure on alcoholic refreshments can be classified as non-production related
‘spend’ and production related ‘spend’. Where the ‘spend’ is for production related purposes
(e.g. in the case of an end of series party) the information requested falls outside of the scope
of the Act because it is held for the purposes of ‘journalism, art or literature.’ Part VI of
Schedule 1 to the Act provides that information held by the BBC and the other public service
broadcasters is only covered by the Act if it is held for ‘purposes other than those of
journalism, art or literature”. The BBC is not required by the Act to supply information held
for the purposes of creating the BBC’s output or information that supports and is closely
associated with these creative activities
1
; however, on this occasion we are happy to volunteer the following information which would normally fall outside the scope of the Act.
The information disclosed, therefore contains non-production related and production related
spend.
I seem to recall Lord Patten condescendingly telling Phil Davies MP at the Committee hearing that he had no intention of disclosing his diary - it was "impertinent" to ask.
I consider a late reply such as this, as a ruse to take the sting out of a complaint, by the passage of time. It is a clever tactic and in itself is dismissive. I have spoken about this with Gay friends of mine, who could not understand why the BBC picked up on the individuals concerned. I suspect that in the current climate, the BBC has no appetite for contesting Gay rights, rights championed by constant bombardment from a significant minority with a disproportionate loud voice in society.
Following on from the Saville issues that the BBC saw fit to ignore, I wonder what is worse, him, or a gay man presenting two babies to his naked nipples, whilst being filmed.
Require a full and proper response to my complaint please:
1. Who dealt with it & who are they.
2. Have the BBC outsourced the dealing of complaints to a third party employed by the BBC and if so who are they and what id the terms of their remit.
3. Whys was my complaint dismissed. ( I am not interested in a complaint being logged, so what!)
4. How many complaints on this subject were received by the BBC.
This time, please deal with this matter. I am sure Lord Patten would be interested in your response if not my complaint.
Regards.
John O’Halloran
From: bbc_complaints_website@bbc.co.uk [mailto:bbc_complaints_website@bbc.co.uk]
Sent: 01 February 2013 09:23
To: John O'Halloran
Subject: BBC Complaints - Case number CAS-1824829-Y4641V
Dear Mr O'Halloran
Reference CAS-1824829-Y4641V
Thanks for contacting us regarding Inside Out (South) on 10 December.
Please accept our apologies for the delay in replying. We know our correspondents appreciate a quick response and are sorry you've had to wait on this occasion.
We understand you were concerned by the item on a male homosexual couple adopting twins by a surrogate mother in the US.
This was a brief piece looking at a subject which we believe is in the public interest to address. The BBC does not have an opinion on the matter contrary to what you suggest and believe we allow viewers to make up their own minds on the matters at hand.
We have, however, registered your comments on our audience log. The audience logs are important documents that can help shape future decisions and they ensure that your points, and all other comments we receive, are made available to BBC staff across the Corporation.
Thanks again for contacting us.
Kind Regards
Stuart Webb
BBC Complaints
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints
NB This is sent from an outgoing account only which is not monitored. You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided.