BBC Trust

The breaches relate to cases where the public were being misled by production staff appearing on-screen where they could be assumed to be members of the public, or the non-signposted restaging of actual events.

They were brought to the BBC's attention by newspaper reports in August this year, and Reef Television was immediately suspended by the BBC while a full investigation into the incidents was carried out. Reef Television has since admitted that it conducted some of these practices knowingly, but wrongly believed they were acceptable.

The breaches occurred within the following series: Sun, Sea and Bargain Spotting, (2004-2009, Series 1-3 on BBC Two, Series 4&5 on BBC One), Trash to Cash, (Series 1∓2, 2008-2009, BBC One), and Dealers: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, (Series 2, 2008, BBC One). The breaches included: production staff featured buying an item in footage which was presented as if the individual was a member of the public; off-screen purchases of items by production staff which affected the on-screen challenge; and the restaging of actual events where the genuine participant did not appear.

Richard Tait, Chair of the Trust's Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) which considered the results of the Executive's investigation, said:

"The practices identified in Reef Television's programming routinely misled the BBC's audiences and are totally unacceptable. The Trust takes these breaches extremely seriously: we know they directly undermine the public's trust in the BBC. Although they occurred in programming made by a third party, it is ultimately the BBC's responsibility as the broadcaster to make sure that the Editorial Guidelines are adhered to, regardless of a programme's provenance.

"We're satisfied that the outcomes agreed with the Executive reflect the severity of these cases. The BBC must not allow its audiences to be misled. It must put steps in place to prevent this and, if misleading material is uncovered, it must be dealt with openly and firmly."

Since these cases came to light three months ago, Reef Television has been suspended without income from the BBC. The relevant programmes will not be broadcast or rebroadcast by the corporation.

Agreement of suitable compensation and the decision regarding any future contractual relationship with Reef Television is a matter for the BBC Executive, but the Trust is clear that the date of payment and the amount of compensation from Reef Television to the BBC must be agreed, and the BBC Executive must be satisfied that new compliance measures are in place and are of an appropriate standard before Reef Television may resume work for the BBC.

Ends

Notes to editors

1. These were not competitions for the viewing public and therefore no member of the viewing public suffered financial detriment as a result of the breaches.

2. The outcomes of some on-screen challenges were changed by the practice of allowing staff purchases.

3. The ESC concluded that:

• Viewers could not have been aware of staff purchases or of reconstructed events;
• The public had been misled;
• This was factual entertainment, but even so the public who paid for these programmes through the licence fee did expect to watch real events unfolding;
• Both practices (staff purchases and unidentified reconstructions) were unacceptable;
• The management of Reef Television were unaware of the reconstructions and had, wrongly, assumed that staff purchases were acceptable;
• Reef Television did not raise or discuss the issue of staff purchases with anyone at the BBC;

The BBC was unaware of these practices;

A 'fit for purpose' compliance system was not in place at the Executive at the time of the broadcasts but even if it had been, it was probable that these practices would not have been detected. They resulted from a failure of editorial judgement (staff purchases) and editorial control (reconstructions) at Reef Television. They did not result from a failure of editorial judgement by the BBC Executive Producers;

The BBC licence fee payer has also suffered a financial loss as these programmes cannot be shown again on the BBC.

4. The ESC decided that:

• The affected programmes must not be rebroadcast;
• Those on-screen competitors who should have won, but didn’t following staff purchases which were broadcast, should be offered an apology and reimbursement (this will be carried out by Reef Television);
• It is a matter for the BBC Executive as to whether the company is commissioned again in the future;
• The date of payment and the amount of compensation from Reef Television to the BBC must be agreed by the BBC Executive and Reef Television before Reef Television may resume work for the BBC;
• The BBC Executive must be satisfied that new compliance measures are in place and are of an appropriate standard at Reef Television before Reef Television may resume work for the BBC;
• An on-air apology should be made at a time and date and on a service to be agreed with the ESC and in wording to be agreed by the ESC; and
• The Trust expects the BBC Executive to report on progress made with the actions detailed below in the next bi-annual complaints and compliance report to the Trust in 2010. These are: to contact PACT regarding the lessons learnt from these cases to enable the learnings to be reflected in on-going compliance work; to contact the BBC Academy to provide updates for future training; and to put in place further training for independent production companies and in-house daytime programming suppliers.

5. In this case, the relevant editorial guidelines say:

Misleading audiences

• "We should not distort known facts, present invented material as fact, or knowingly do anything to mislead our audiences."

Staging and Re-Staging Events

• "…unless clearly signalled to the audience, or using reconstructions, it is normally unacceptable in news and factual programmes to stage or re-stage significant action or events which are significant to the development of the action or narrative, for example, the moment of discovery in a scientific documentary."
• "…Commentary must never be used to give the audience a misleading impression of events."

More information on the investigation and ESC finding is contained within the full ESC finding document, which can be found at:

BBC Daytime/Reef Television, PDF (230KB)