tornandfrayed
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Reply from the BBC ECU -
Thank you for your email to the Executive Complaints Unit. You complained that BBC
journalists failed to question Conservative party spokesmen and women on the possible
impact of proposed reforms to entitlement to disability benefits on disabled people and
society as a whole when considering policy pledges made during the General Election. As you
did not single out specific content, I am considering your complaint on a general basis; a
General Complaint being defined as “a criticism which has been made in the expectation of a
reply and which looks for an acknowledgement of fault or a change in the way the BBC does
things, but which is not about a particular item broadcast or published by the BBC”.
I note that you consider that the coverage was in breach of both the Equality Act 2010 and the
BBC's own charter, for failing to take notice of this aspect of the election manifestos and
reflecting it in output. Before assessing your claim, I should first explain that decisions about
which aspects of news and topics should be included in coverage, and the extent of such
coverage, are fundamentally matters for the discretion and judgment of editors, which do not
by themselves raise the prospect of a breach of the BBC’s editorial policies or standards. The
appropriateness of challenges to spokesmen depends on the nature of claims made in
interviews. It is also the case that journalistic coverage during election campaigns will
generally focus on issues which dominate debate. Nonetheless I would accept that the matters
of interest to you were topics which deserved analysis.
It is not possible for me to explore the whole of the BBC’s election output, but investigation
does reveal that the question of changes to disability benefit entitlement did feature in output.
For example this article, “What the main parties are saying about disability”, explored the
questions you raised in relation to the declared policies of all the main parties. The
Conservative Party’s proposals were the subject of an edition of Access All, issued as a
podcast. Another article, “I feel demonised by politicians for having a disability'”, took a
detailed approach. The view of voters featured online in, Your Vote, Your Voice, which
2
included first person comments on matters including this. Also online, this article, “If my
lifeline is cut, it will be devastating”, focussed specifically on Personal Independence
Payments. It should be noted that the plan to cut payments had already been the subject of
coverage, when it was first mooted in April.
I understand that you would like to have seen more critical attention on claims made by
politicians, but I do not think it can be reasonably suggested that these issues were ignored.
Accordingly I cannot accept your complaint. There is no provision for further appeal against
this decision within the BBC, but it is open to you to approach the broadcasting regulator,
Ofcom for its opinion, though Ofcom does not normally entertain general complaints... You
can find details of how to contact Ofcom and the procedures it will apply at
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/how-to-report-a-complaint.
Ofcom acknowledges all complaints received but will not normally write back to individual
complainants with the outcome of its considerations.
Yours sincerely
Jeremy Hayes
Complaints Director
Thank you for your email to the Executive Complaints Unit. You complained that BBC
journalists failed to question Conservative party spokesmen and women on the possible
impact of proposed reforms to entitlement to disability benefits on disabled people and
society as a whole when considering policy pledges made during the General Election. As you
did not single out specific content, I am considering your complaint on a general basis; a
General Complaint being defined as “a criticism which has been made in the expectation of a
reply and which looks for an acknowledgement of fault or a change in the way the BBC does
things, but which is not about a particular item broadcast or published by the BBC”.
I note that you consider that the coverage was in breach of both the Equality Act 2010 and the
BBC's own charter, for failing to take notice of this aspect of the election manifestos and
reflecting it in output. Before assessing your claim, I should first explain that decisions about
which aspects of news and topics should be included in coverage, and the extent of such
coverage, are fundamentally matters for the discretion and judgment of editors, which do not
by themselves raise the prospect of a breach of the BBC’s editorial policies or standards. The
appropriateness of challenges to spokesmen depends on the nature of claims made in
interviews. It is also the case that journalistic coverage during election campaigns will
generally focus on issues which dominate debate. Nonetheless I would accept that the matters
of interest to you were topics which deserved analysis.
It is not possible for me to explore the whole of the BBC’s election output, but investigation
does reveal that the question of changes to disability benefit entitlement did feature in output.
For example this article, “What the main parties are saying about disability”, explored the
questions you raised in relation to the declared policies of all the main parties. The
Conservative Party’s proposals were the subject of an edition of Access All, issued as a
podcast. Another article, “I feel demonised by politicians for having a disability'”, took a
detailed approach. The view of voters featured online in, Your Vote, Your Voice, which
2
included first person comments on matters including this. Also online, this article, “If my
lifeline is cut, it will be devastating”, focussed specifically on Personal Independence
Payments. It should be noted that the plan to cut payments had already been the subject of
coverage, when it was first mooted in April.
I understand that you would like to have seen more critical attention on claims made by
politicians, but I do not think it can be reasonably suggested that these issues were ignored.
Accordingly I cannot accept your complaint. There is no provision for further appeal against
this decision within the BBC, but it is open to you to approach the broadcasting regulator,
Ofcom for its opinion, though Ofcom does not normally entertain general complaints... You
can find details of how to contact Ofcom and the procedures it will apply at
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/how-to-report-a-complaint.
Ofcom acknowledges all complaints received but will not normally write back to individual
complainants with the outcome of its considerations.
Yours sincerely
Jeremy Hayes
Complaints Director
