Last month we decided to make a Freedom of Information Request to the BBC. What we wanted were any documents relating to discussions about BBC jam at a meeting of the BBC’s Governors on June 14, 2006 as well as any correspondence between the Board, the DfES and the Content Advisory Board relating to BBC jam. Why did we ask? Easy - BBC jam is a major education programme, funded by licence payers. We would like to know if it is meeting the conditions imposed upon it by the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Specifically, we want to know if the concerns of the Content Advisory Board were being addressed and if so what was being done.
 
The BBC have twenty days to reply and they took them all before an email from the BBC’s FOI Advisor, Stephanie Simmonds, arrived. This said the BBC were extending the deadline to respond because our request fell under a ‘public service test exemption based on sections 36 (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs), 42 (legal professional privilege) and 43 (commercial interests) applies to the information we hold’.
 
So we now have to wait until November before we will know whether we will have our request granted. We expect a rejection because the BBC seem very sensitive to any discussion or scrutiny of BBC jam, but we will appeal and won’t stop chasing this story simply because it might be inconvenient for the BBC.

• www.bbc.co.uk/jam