Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested any submissions made by the British Broadcasting Corporation (the -�BBC-�) to Ofcom-�s (the Communications Regulator) Content Sanctions Committee; any decision letters received from Ofcom regarding statutory sanctions; and any correspondence between the BBC and Ofcom regarding the possibility of the imposition of any statutory sanction or the appropriate level of any statutory sanction. The public authority refused to provide the requested information claiming that it was outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act (-�the Act-�) because it was held for the purposes of journalism, art or literature. It was stated that the BBC was not required 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. The Commissioner is satisfied that the information in question was held for the purpose of journalism, art and literature. Therefore the BBC was not obliged to comply with Parts I to V of the Act.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Not upheld