The majority of complaints made to the Press Complaints Commission, which raise a possible breach of the Code of Practice, are resolved directly between the Commission’s staff, editors and complainants.

These are either settled to the express satisfaction of the complainant following some remedial action by the editor or are not pursued by complainants following an explanation or other response from the publication.

Below are summaries of the latest complaints involving the regional press which fall into the first category.

Yorkshire Evening Post
Philip Scarfe of Leeds complained that an inquest report was inaccurate and caused distress to him and his family. (Clauses 1, 5)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper apologised if any distress had been caused and explained the circumstances behind the story.

Bury Free Press
A woman from Bury St Edmunds, complained that the newspaper included her name and address with a letter submitted for publication after she had asked the paper not to print these details. (Clause 3)
Resolution: The newspaper apologised to the complainant for any distress caused. The editor also reminded the reporters of the newspaper’s policy on this matter and took charge of the letters page personally to ensure that the same error would not occur again. He amended the newspaper’s archive, deleting the complainant’s personal details so that these could not be reprinted. Furthermore, he implemented another layer of checking procedures which involved revisiting the original letter submitted to see if there were any requests or indications for details to be withheld from publication.

Sunderland Echo
Ian Cuthbertson of Pennywell complained that an article had inaccurately suggested that he was a robber. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published a clarification making clear that – although Mr Cuthbertson had been convicted of unlawful wounding – he had been cleared of robbery.

Birmingham Evening Mail
Angharad Lynch, Communications Manager of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, complained that an article had identified six workers – who had been used to plant three trees on a local green – as employed by Solihull Council. In fact, they were contractors employed by Birmingham City Council on a fixed price basis. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper, before being notified by the PCC of its investigation, published a correction and apology.

Somerset County Guardian
B Denman, of Taunton, complained that an article about him contained inaccuracies and was intrusive. (Clauses 1, 3)
Resolution: The matter was resolved when the newspaper agreed to publish an apology on the matter.

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