Check the Freedom of Information request correspondence and judge for yourself:
The Final Response is a file, inside it say this:
“British Broadcasting Corporation Room BC2 B6 Broadcast Centre White City Wood Lane London W12 7TP
Telephone 020 8008 2882 Email [BBC request email]
Information Policy & Compliance
bbc.co.uk/foi
bbc.co.uk/privacy
research-worldwide
Via email: [FOI #160652 email]
10 June 2013
Dear Sir/Madam,
Freedom of Information Request – RFI20130706
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) received on 8 May,
seeking the following information:
Please could you tell me the dates of Lizzie Watson’s employment at the BBC.
Please could you tell me all her job titles/positions within the organisaton with dates.
Please list all the programmes with she has been involved during her term of employment.
Please confirm that she is the daughter of Margaret Hodge MP.
Under section 40(2) (personal information) of the Act, we are withholding all of the information requested
in parts 1, 2 and 3 of your request. Under section 40(2) of the Act, personal information about identifiable
living individuals is exempt if disclosure to a third party would breach one or more principles in the Data
Protection Act 1998. The individual concerned would not expect employment details to be disclosed to a
third party. To do so would be unfair; therefore, disclosure would breach the First Data Protection
Principle (fair and lawful processing).
In response to your final question, the BBC does not maintain a central record of family relationships.
Family relationships do not in themselves constitute a conflict of interest and individuals are only required
to inform the BBC of such relationships if there is the potential for a conflict of interest to arise e.g. where
it might impact on their work role. In this case they would inform the BBC under the Declaration of
Personal Interests policy.
All employees are required to complete a Declaration of Personal Interests (DOPI) form when they join
the BBC and are explicitly reminded to review their interests annually and each time they take up a new
job within the BBC. In addition to this, they are obliged to update their DOPI should their interests change
in the meantime.
For information, the BBC’s Declaration of Personal Interests Policy can be found at the following address
(please refer to Section 6 in particular):
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/foi/classes/policies_procedures/declaration_personal_interests.pdf
The BBC would only hold the information you have requested if the individual was employed by the BBC
and had included it in their DOPI form or raised it with their local HR team.
Section1 (1)(a) of the Act requires that a public authority informs the applicant of whether or not the
requested information is held. However, certain of the provisions in the Act remove this duty and in this
instance, the BBC declines to confirm or deny whether or not the requested information is held under
section 40(5)(b)(i) (personal information).
This exemption applies when providing confirmation or denial that information is held would itself
contravene one or more of the Principles in the Data Protection Act 1998. In the present case, confirming
or denying whether or not the requested information is held would constitute the disclosure of an
individual’s personal data to a third party. This would be unfair, as the individual concerned would not
expect her personal data to be so disclosed, and would therefore breach the First Data Protection Principle
(fair and lawful processing).
I hope this response satisfies your request.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied that we have complied with the Act in responding to your request, you have the
right to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser. Please contact us at the address
above, explaining what you would like us to review and including your reference number. If you are not
satisfied with the 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 see http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Yours sincerely
Rachel Currie
BBC People ”
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