Complaint
The programme included an item on concerns about the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in Scotland’s schools. A listener complained that the introduction to the item had been inaccurate in saying around 100 schools in England and Wales had been closed on account of such concerns because, at that point, there had been no school closures in Wales. This gave an impression that the Scotland had been slow to act in comparison with other parts of the UK, and should have been corrected by the programme. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The introduction was inaccurate in suggesting there had been school closures in Wales. In the ECU’s judgement, the inaccuracy (which had already been acknowledged by the programme’s Editor) was not insignificant in the context of the lead story on a news programme covering an important and controversial matter, and amounted to a breach of the BBC’s standards of accuracy. However, while agreeing that a correction by the programme might have been appropriate if the error had been identified sooner, it considered the Welsh government’s decision on 4 September to begin school closures would have rendered any correction after that date otiose.
Upheld