Abigail Withington [[email protected]] 5 August 2011 Dear Abigail Withington, Freedom of Information Request - RFI20110632 I refer to my letter to you of 29 July 2011, regarding your FOI request to the BBC of 2 June 2011, seeking: ‘… copies of all internal documents that discuss or list risks (including but not limited to operational and reputational risks) associated with the relocation of several BBC departments to the MediaCity development in Salford. This could include, but is not limited to, a project risk register.’ In that letter the BBC released much of the information you had requested and undertook to provide a final response by today, 5 August. As you are aware, complying with your request has taken a significant amount of time and resource, in particular, reviewing a large volume of documentation for information of relevance to your request. The BBC does still hold further information within the scope your request, however we believe that the ‘appropriate limit’ in the fees regulations1 has already been exceeded in this case and, as allowed by section 12 of the Act, the BBC is not obliged to comply. Turning to the information we are releasing to you today, the contextual information provided in our last response is equally relevant and redactions have been made to these documents on a consistent basis, for the same reasons – for completeness, we include this information a second time. Context and documents BBC North's objective is to serve and represent audiences across the whole of the UK. It will deliver locally produced, high quality content for every platform using the latest innovations in technology. BBC North will also lead the way in training and developing local talent, building on the rich mix of skills and experience already available in the North of England. It will also forge new partnerships with organisations across the North of England to bring the BBC closer to the public. 1 The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 1 We have interpreted your request concerning BBC North to refer to the parts of the BBC which will be migrating to the BBC’s MediaCityUK offices in Salford.2 To this end, we have considered the individual Risk Register for the Relocation Project, as well as the BBC’s central Risk Register – Magique - which is a ‘live’ database containing risks for all the BBC’s divisions. These registers contain the basis of all risk reporting and associated documents connected to the relocation. In addition, we have gathered information and documents held by individuals and departments identified as being connected with the move to Salford. As we say elsewhere in this document, the BBC North Project is on time and on budget and none of the risks that we identified at earlier stages have crystallised. At present they remain just that, items on a risk register. Further information about BBC North’s approach to risks can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/2011/08/registering-risk-makes-sense.shtml Please find attached: Risk Registers – records from the registers which relate to the relocation of departments to Salford. Papers which discuss or list risks relating to the relocation of departments to Salford. Given the resource involved in responding to your request, we have searched the registers for the two years before the date of your request, as risks prior to that date will have either have expired or remain on the current risk registers. Minutes of BBC Executive Board and Trust papers are published online and can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/running/executive/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/about/how_we_operate/trust_meetings/minutes.shtml Background to the documentation The BBC has a responsibility to its staff and to licence fee payers to undertake a complete and thorough assessment of all and any risks that could hypothetically occur during the life-cycle of any major project it undertakes – this enables the BBC to take any actions to mitigate these risks or avoid any potential impact. The identification of a potential risk should not be interpreted that the risk or event is likely to or will happen. To ensure that this is done effectively and efficiently the BBC requires that a Risk Register is created for all major projects across the entire business. The Risk Register is compiled by all departments associated or involved directly in any project and is an assessment of all and any hypothetical risks to their specific department. By virtue of what departments are asked to consider, the risks can and do range in terms of scale and potential severity to ensure that the BBC is able to most effectively manage and deliver the project successfully. 2 The move to these offices started on 16th May 2011 and departments and individuals will move to Salford from BBC premises in London and Manchester week by week until April 2012. 2 Therefore the Risk Register for BBC North is not different from any of the risk registers for other parts of the BBC. It contains a list of hypothetical risks not only for the relocation project itself but for BBC Sport, BBC Children’s, BBC Radio 5 live and around 20 other departments and teams moving to Salford. To date none of the risks listed in the register have crystallised. BBC North remains on time and on budget. Migration to MediaCityUK began in May 2011 and to date over 700 people have moved into the BBC buildings on the site. The BBC will take full occupation by the end of April 2012. Withheld information Section 43 You will note that we have withheld certain sections of the documents which relate to ongoing negotiations with the following third parties involved in Project North under section 43(2) of the Act. Capita Delec Seimens Adobe IBM Infosec Reed Ascent Cartus Peel Holdings Peel Media Services Ltd Avid HP, IBM, Cisco Vizrt Mosart/Dalet VCS Metra SIS 3 IBIS Quicklink Snell LTD Broadcast Bionics Omneon Red Hat Sony Calrec Studer Vinten Stagetec EVS Front Porch Sadie Big Ted VCS Thum and Mahr Jutel Miranda Barco Eurotek Grass Valley Pentagon Root 6 SQS Vizuall Shokoku This is because disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of both the BBC and these organisations by: · prejudicing the negotiating position of these organisations in ongoing contractual negotiations; · weakening the BBC’s bargaining position with suppliers of goods and services; · having a detrimental impact on the commercial revenue of these organisations and individuals’ position in a competitive environment by revealing market-sensitive information or information of potential usefulness to clients or competitors; In addition, some information has also been withheld as disclosure would prejudice ongoing negotiations with individuals regarding the terms of their employment. As Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption, in accordance with section 2(2) of the Act, we have considered the public interest factors in this case. Specifically, whether in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 4 In favour of disclosure, we recognised that there is a public interest in the following: · that the BBC is using public money effectively, and that the BBC is getting value for money when purchasing goods and services; On the other hand, in considering factors that might weigh in favour of the public interest in withholding, we took into account the following: · That the competitive position of companies in their particular market is not disadvantaged by doing business with the BBC. It would not be in the public interest to disclose sensitive information about a particular company if that information would be likely to be used by competitors to gain a competitive advantage · That companies, or individuals provide the BBC with commercially sensitive information, so that the BBC is able to make robust decisions regarding its suppliers of goods and services, including ensuring that the BBC obtains the best value for money from each transaction; I am satisfied, in terms of section 2 of the Act, that in all the circumstances of this case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. Schedule 1 You will note that we have not provided a small amount of information relating to specific individual programmes. This is because the information you have requested is excluded from the Act because it is held for the purposes of ‘journalism, art or literature.’ Part VI of Schedule 1 to FOIA 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 obliged 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.3 Irrelevant information Finally, information has been redacted where it does not relate to your request, e.g. risks relevant to Project North. Redactions You will see where information has been redacted, it is marked up on the documents. Please note that in the documents listed below, the BBC considered that the only information contained in the documents which was relevant to the risks related to the move North was exempt from disclosure. So, in preference to sending a fully-redacted document, we have simply listed these below. Information relevant to your request has been withheld under Section 43: 3 For more information about how the Act applies to the BBC please see the enclosure which follows this letter.