BBC

The complainant has requested information concerning documents contained in a “Closed Bundle” which was provided to the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) in the course of proceedings relating to an appeal brought by the complainant. These included a detailed schedule, an agenda, a briefing note on the aims of a seminar held by the BBC, list of attendees (including contact details) and various documents for the conduct of the seminar including opening remarks by one of the attendees. The BBC explained the information was covered by the derogation and excluded from the FOIA. The complainant also advised that the BBC provided a late response to his request. The Commissioner’s decision is that this information is held by the BBC for the purposes of ‘journalism, art or literature’ and does not fall inside FOIA. He therefore upholds the BBC’s position and requires no remedial steps to be taken in this case. The Commissioner also finds that the BBC has failed to provide a response to the request within the statutory time frame of 20 working days. He upholds this part of the complaint but requires no further action to be taken. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2013/0117 withdrawn.