Letter to the BBC Trust

23rd September 2011 



BBC Trust Unit
180 Great Portland Street
London
W1W 5QZ

Dear Sirs,



"Are Environmentalists Bad for the Planet" BBC Radio 4


Last year I raised a number of specific concerns about the above programme to the BBC Complaints Unit which to all intents and purposes have been lost rather than dealt with.

I understand that the BBC is subject to the OFCOM Broadcasting Code and I cited sections 7.9 and 7.13 of the OFCOM Broadcasting Code as having been breached (I first did that through the BBC's internet complaints portal on 21st February 2010 ) . Despite the fact that I have raised the matter of sections 7.9 and 7.13 many times since the BBC have never addressed it. This correspondence indicates that the BBC Complaints process is able to filibuster a complaint under the OFCOM Broadcasting Code despite the fact that OFCOM is external to the BBC.


I recieved a letter from Gemma McAleer earlier this month telling me the matter was out of time, but it is the BBC that have been tardy in dealing with this, I should also add that her chronology was flawed. I also have a specific question that I have raised numerous times which has been ignored and needs to be answered, in that light I contend that the one-sided account of a meeting by a contributor was untruthful and BBC programme makers have failed in their duty to see that the programme was truthful.

Stage two of the complaints process was dealth with by Sean Moss who took seven and a half months to respond, when he did so he gave no instructions on how to escalate this matter to yourselves.

I have spoken to OFCOM on the phone and they say to write to yourselves, which I am now doing. But I hasten to point out that unless you are able to engage in this correspondence the record would show that the BBC Complaints process can ignore accusations of stepping outside OFCOM's rules.

Salutations,

Hengist McStone