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Freedom of Information Internal Review Decision Freedom of Information Internal Review decision Internal Reviewer Lawyer – Legal Workplace and Information Rights Reference RFI20200979 / IR2020043 Date 14 September 2020 Requested information On 17 June 2020, you requested that the BBC provide the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘the FOIA’) (RFI20200794): I recently watched a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP6gpER96ks) in which Mr Alex Belfield makes reference at 05:25 to his own Freedom of Information request that concerns the late John Myers, Jeremy Vine, £1000 and an event at the London Palladium. Mr Belfield's words were "I've got the FOI, Jeremy, you can't deny it". At 06:00 Mr Belfield says "The BBC FOI, in writing, have said that they did". I would be grateful for a copy of Mr Belfield's FOI request and your responses. On 13 July 2020, the BBC responded that: The request to which you refer to was as follows: “At the Arias st the London Palladium by the Radio Academy it was announced “the bbc gave a donation” for the JM fund which was then given to charity.” The BBC responded; ‘Like many radio organisations we contributed £1,000 towards the cost of a memorial service for a significant figure for the BBC as well as the wider radio industry.’ The BBC has also responded to similar requests since and confirmed that Jeremy Vine had no involvement with the BBC’s contribution and he did not receive this money. After further correspondence, you made a new FOIA request on 14 July 2020, as follows (RFI20200979): Many thanks for your reply, I am very grateful. Just for clarity, I would be additionally grateful if you would tell me, please, the name of the organisation (or person) to which the £1000 was donated. Thank you. On 11 August 2020, the BBC provided its response to your request in RFI20200979. The BBC’s response stated: As we have previously stated, the BBC as well as a number of other media organisations made a contribution towards the John Myers memorial service. The balance was donated by the event organisers to the Northern Head & Neck Cancer Charity. On 12 August 2020, you sought internal review of the BBC’s decision in respect of RFI20200979, stating: Perhaps I did not make myself crystal clear, but I was looking for the name of the organisation (or person) (i.e. "the event organisers" to whom you referred in your reply to me) to which the contribution had been made for the event itself, and not for the name of the charity that then received "the balance" as a donation. Therefore, I consider that you have not answered my request for information. Please do so by return. In your correspondence seeking an internal review, you also sought to make a new request for information, stating: Please also provide copies of all letter(s) or any other communications of authority allowing the BBC's contribution to be made (showing who authorised the contribution), and a copy of the paperwork (for example, a purchase order, and digital or otherwise) generated by the BBC's Accounts department in respect of this contribution. However, in subsequent correspondence, you confirmed that you only wanted to proceed with an internal review of the BBC’s response with respect to RFI20200979, and did not wish to make a new request for information. The issues for review In the circumstances, this internal review is limited to consideration of whether or not the BBC handled your request in RFI20200979 in accordance with the obligations under the FOIA. In particular, as required by sections 1(1)(a) and (b), did the BBC confirm or deny that it holds the requested information and, if held, have that information communicated to you? Reasons for decision In undertaking an internal review, it is open to me to make a fresh decision on your request. I have liaised with Radio & Education as the relevant line area for this request. As you have clarified the scope of your request, please be advised that the memorial service for John Myers was organised by a committee comprising of four senior radio industry executives. Their involvement in organising the memorial service is in the public domain – e.g., https://radiotoday.co.uk/2019/07/london-memorial-for-john-myers-planned-for-november/. 2 Appeal Rights If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your 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 https://ico.org.uk/ 3 .
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