Complaint
The programme included an item on possible changes to the Government鈥檚 Motability scheme. A viewer complained that the car it featured (a BMW X5M Competition) had never been available through Motability. This conveyed an inaccurate impression of the scheme and tended to promote the view that it provided luxury or super-premium vehicles 鈥 a view which was both inaccurate and harmful to people with disabilities who were beneficiaries of the scheme and who already faced hostility as a result of misconceptions about it. The viewer asked for the complaint to be considered in relation to the 91福利社鈥檚 editorial standards of accuracy and impartiality.
Outcome
In the course of the item, the reporter noted that Motability had been criticised for providing 鈥渢oo many luxury cars鈥 and cited the featured car as an example of the kind of vehicle which was 鈥渘ow in the Chancellor鈥檚 sights鈥 in relation to possible changes in a scheme which the Chancellor thought had 鈥渓ost focus鈥. As the car was not one of those available through the scheme, the ECU accepted that viewers were given a materially misleading impression in this respect and upheld the complaint in relation to accuracy. In relation to impartiality, the ECU noted that high-value cars other than the one featured had been available through the scheme. As well as reflecting criticism of the scheme, the item included a response to the criticism by a beneficiary of the scheme, and the ECU judged this was enough to meet the demands of impartiality even though the featured car was not in fact a case in point.
Partly Upheld