Complaint
In a discussion about the UK’s Motability scheme, a guest from the TaxPayers’ Alliance claimed seventeen people had received the payment due to acne.  A listener complained this was inaccurate and should have been challenged by the presenter, and that the description used of the organisation the guest represented was inadequate. The ECU considered whether the broadcast met the standards for accuracy and impartiality set out in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
The ECU agreed more information about the TaxPayers’ Alliance might have been helpful but not that its absence was a breach of standards, as the speaker’s general standpoint was clear from what he said during the discussion.  With regards to his remarks on the Motability scheme, the ECU established that the claim in question (which was in fact challenged by another guest) was not materially inaccurate.  The Department for Work and Pensions confirmed that, according to their statistics, eighteen people have been awarded Personal Independence Payments (PIP) since 2019 with acne vulgaris listed as their primary disability, of which five were awarded enhanced mobility allowance entitling them to apply for a Motability car.
Not Upheld