Beyond Dispute's work gets official approval!

Beyond Dispute is pleased that their work has received official approval under difficult, and very public, circumstances.

Beyond Dispute provided health and safety consultancy to Love Productions for the Channel 4 show earlier this year – ‘Boys and Girls Alone’ which appeared to show a group of children (aged from 8 to 13) living alone for three weeks. It generated wide-spread horror and criticism including social services requesting it not be aired, and a letter from 40 child experts to The Times saying the programme amounted to “child abuse and cruelty”.

Beyond Dispute worked with Love productions prior to and during filming of the programme and established a series of control measures and precautions which, although stringently observed by the production company, were not immediately apparent to those watching the show. As a result of the complaints a comprehensive review of the program was carried out by Ofcom. Ofcom found that the broadcaster applied due care to the welfare of the children and they were not caused unnecessary distress or anxiety from their involvement in the programme or by its broadcast. The only breach of Ofcom’s code was found to be the failure to make the control measures that were in place clear to the viewer to avoid unnecessary distress or worry on the part of those watching the show.

Olivia van der Werff, Managing Director of Beyond Dispute, said “these findings are obviously a terrific validation of the work we carried out for Love Productions. We were confident that the children were not placed in any danger, either physically or emotionally. The clever thing about shows like this is the illusion – so it appeared that the children were in danger – and the viewers suspended disbelief to allow themselves to really worry about the children’s welfare. It was a challenging show to work on but ultimately an extremely rewarding experience”.