Bits

The FoI machine rolls on....

The BBC paid legal and mediation fees totalling £18,530 to HR Director Lucy Adams in her hunt for an apology from the NUJ.  The union had accused her of leading a "dirty tricks" including the hacking of staff emails, but withdrew and apologised earlier this month. The Guardian believes the NUJ covered the fees as part of the settlment, but the union made no comment.

A new consultancy firm has been helping with the BBC's Project Spark, yet another go at finding ways of making programmes more cheaply. The wheeze was conceived by former Strategy Numero Uno John Tate and made flesh, at an undisclosed cost, by McKinseys. Now it seems Ernst & Young are on board, at least in radio, where the BBC has spent £197,000 on additional staff since 2010, under project director Adrian Ruth.

There are seven requests pending for information about various cost elements of the BBC's coverage of Nelson Mandela's funeral - and that's just via the website What Do They Know?  Don't hold your breath - it's a fair bet they'll say it's information held for the purposes of journalism, and thus their secret.