Complaint
This edition included a report on the number of people working in Human Resources in the UK. A listener complained there was insufficient challenge of the statistics and the reliability of the data put forward in support of a contentious claim. The ECU considered whether the programme met the BBC’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The item set out to examine a report published by Policy Exchange which claimed UK businesses were under increasing pressure to adopt equality, diversity and inclusion policies, imposing significant costs on companies and reducing productivity. The World at One was entitled to report these claims provided they were properly attributed and subject to appropriate scrutiny and challenge. In the ECU’s view the claims were not presented as established fact and were subject to appropriate challenge. Listeners heard a suitable range of alternative views and were able to judge the information accordingly. This was sufficient to ensure the programme met the requirements for due impartiality.
Not Upheld
