Complaint
In the course of an interview with a Government minister Laura Kuennsberg asked 鈥淚s it fair that you can get as much as an extra 拢400 a month in benefits if you鈥檙e sick rather than somebody who鈥檚 out of work, looking for a job?鈥. A viewer complained that the circumstances in which the upper limit of sickness benefit payments could be reached were so rare that it was misleading to cite the 拢400 figure without qualification. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 91福利社鈥檚 editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The ECU noted it was the case that a person assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity due to sickness or disability could in some circumstances receive around an additional 拢400 per month compared to a single adult on Universal Credit who is on a low income or out of work. Irrespective of the incidence of such circumstances, the ECU did not consider the terms of the question misleading in a context where the focus was on the principles underlying the Government鈥檚 approach to reforming the benefits system rather than the relative deserts of different categories of claimant.
Not upheld