Barmy BBC ban on staff changing lightbulbs
By DAN NEWLING - More by this author » Last updated at 22:00pm on 25th March 2007

Stop! BBC staff are not trusted to change lightbulbs

How many BBC staff does it take to change a lightbulb?

Just the one, it seems - but it must be a safetyaccredited workman called out at £10 a visit.

The corporation's stringent health and safety regulations apparently ban the average employee from performing the simple task themselves.

The ludicrous process was brought to light by a staff member in the BBC's in-house magazine, Ariel.

"I called up to ask for a new lightbulb for my desk lamp and was told this would cost £10," said Louise Wordsworth, a learning project manager.

"On telling them I'd buy and replace the bulb myself (bought for the bargain price of £1 for two bulbs) I was told that it was against health and safety regulations."

The corporation has faced criticism for its complicated internal-market system, first introduced in the 1990s by then-director general John Birt.

Under the system, internal jobs such as changing a lightbulb or fixing a computer are outsourced to separate departments-which then issue invoices accordingly.

The result is a Kaftaesque bureaucracy in which the simple can become very complicated - and very expensive.

In 2005 it was revealed that the outsourced property management firm Land Securities Trillium charged the BBC an astonishing £2,500 to erect nine shelves.

According to furious BBC staff members, the same firm charged £1,000 to erect a sign and £5,500 to install an air conditioning unit worth just £2,000.

Last year, when the second 'i' in the BBC Television Centre sign in West London broke, it took more than a month to fix.

The corporation's own facilities management company, plus two outside contractors, spent thousands of pounds of licence-fee payers' money on the task.

It is thought to have cost £1,100 every time one of the contractors conducted an assessment of the problem.

The profligate spending comes despite the BBC receiving a lowerthanexpected licence-fee settlement this year. In February it was announced that the licence fee will go up by £4, which is less than the rate of inflation.

The corporation is already in the process of making some 4,000 redundancies.

It is expected that the effective cut in its income will mean that it has to make more.

A spokesman for the BBC claimed that Mrs Wordsworth had been given the £10 cost of changing a lightbulb in error.

She added: "BBC staff are permitted to change lightbulbs if they want, however they should follow the appropriate safety precautions, such as ensuring that the light is switched off at the time."

SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to become the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets to help promote recycling.

Under the legislation, beginning in six months large supermarkets and drugstores will not be allowed to offer plastic bags made from petroleum products.

"Many [foreign] cities and nations have already implemented very similar legislation," said Ross Mirkarimi, the city legislator who championed the new law. "It's astounding that San Francisco would be the first U.S. city to follow suit." (What to find out if they'll be saying 'paper or fabric' at the checkout line )

"I am hopeful that other U.S. cities will also adopt similar legislation," he said. "Why wait for the federal government to enact legislation that gets to the core of this problem when local governments can just step up to the plate?"

The city's Department of the Environment said San Francisco uses 181 million plastic grocery bags annually. Plans dating back a decade to encourage recycling of the bags have largely failed, with shoppers returning just one percent of bags, said department spokesman Mark Westland.

Mirkarimi said the ban would save 450,000 gallons of oil a year and remove the need to send 1,400 tons of debris now sent annually to landfills. The new rules would, however, allow recyclable plastic bags, which are not widely used today.

A spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who must approve or veto the legislation, called it sensible. "Chances are good that he is going to sign it," said Nathan Ballard.

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