BBC

The complainant has requested information about severance payments made by the BBC. The BBC refused to provide the names, job titles, severance payment or date individuals left the BBC under section 21 and 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). The Commissioner’s decision is that the BBC was correct to apply section 21 to the requested information relating to one data subject. The Commissioner considers that section 40(2) FOIA was correctly applied to the withheld names and positions but was incorrect to apply this exemption to the payments made and the dates of departure. The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose a list of all the payments made and a list of the dates of departure (although the BBC should not link the amount paid to the date of departure). Information Tribunal appeal EA/2015/0016 withdrawn.