The ECU acknowledged that the article’s primary focus was on England but, in the light of the information it included on the devolved jurisdictions, did not consider that this focus in itself raised an issue of editorial standards. However, it accepted that the version of the article seen by the complainant gave a misleading impression of the situation in those jurisdictions in several respects.   In particular, it gave the impression that police and fire services in Scotland were funded through council tax, whereas they are funded centrally; and, while saying council tax funds “care services” in Scotland was generally correct, the reference to additional charges was not accurate when presented without qualification in relation to Scotland where different funding arrangements apply.  By the time the complaint reached the ECU, the article had been appropriately amended in those respects (though no note explaining the changes had been added, as would be normal practice when making material changes to an online item).  However, the section about what happens when councils go bankrupt remained misleading because it did not reflect the different position in Scotland. 

Upheld