Digital data

Some bits and bobs about the failure of the BBC's Digital Media Initiative have slipped out via a Freedom of Information response, as we await the imminent Price Waterhouse Cooper report on what went wrong.

There's no change in the overall loss figures  - off just under £100m - but here's the rate of spend...

The BBC has refused to say how many times over this period the Executive formally reviewed progress of the project, but has declared these Trust interventions, which are interesting when compared with the spend details.......

• In June 2010 the Trust Finance Committee commissioned a progress review of DMI by external consultants. This report was not published. 

• In November 2010, the Trust Finance Committee commissioned the National Audit Office to carry out a review; the results, [were] published in January 2011. 

• Between December 2009 and March 2013, the Trust Finance Committee received regular reports from the BBC Executive’s Project Management Office about progress of major projects including DMI. 

• In autumn 2012 the Trust Finance Committee requested a completely new business case based on a fundamental review and agreed that in the meantime spending in most areas should be temporarily halted. Following this review, the Trust agreed to the Executive’s proposal in May 2013 that a permanent halt should be called to the project.

The answer also reveals that John Linwood, the suspended Chief Technology Officer, is the only employee currently facing disciplinary investigation, and that the total value of bonuses and/or other performance awards paid by the BBC to DMI project directors and senior managers is £18,000