L11 Response Accepted in Part AI-assessed

Power to Hear Complaints

Recommendation

The Board should have the power to hear and decide on complaints about breach of the standards code by those who subscribe. The Board should have the power (but not necessarily in all cases depending on the circumstances the duty) to hear complaints whoever they come from, whether personally and directly affected by the alleged breach, or a representative group affected by the alleged breach, or a third party seeking to ensure accuracy of published information. In the case of third party complaints the views of the party most closely involved should be taken into account.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the official government response (29 November 2012), the government accepted the principle of a body with the power to hear complaints in 2012. According to independent evidence (27 February 2025), both the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and IMPRESS hear complaints regarding breaches of their respective standards codes; IPSO processes thousands of complaints annually, though its upheld rate was very low (0.7% between 2018-2022), and it accepts third-party complaints in limited circumstances.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted in Part
Accepted in Part UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012 that he accepted "the principles that Lord Justice Leveson has laid out" for independent self-regulation, including "an independent board, a standards code, an arbitration service and the power to demand up-front, prominent apologies and impose million-pound fines." However, he rejected statutory underpinning, expressing "serious concerns and misgivings" about crossing "the Rubicon of writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land." The Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press was granted on 30 October 2013, establishing the Press Recognition Panel as the recognition body. IPSO was established in September 2014 but has not sought Royal Charter recognition. IMPRESS was recognised by the PRP in October 2016. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report

Read Full Response
Note: PM David Cameron responded to all 92 recommendations with a single statement accepting them "in principle" or "in part". No per-recommendation response was published.
Published Evidence

Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Good Progress
27 Feb 2025
IPSO / IMPRESS Other

Both IPSO and IMPRESS hear complaints about breaches of their respective codes. IPSO handles thousands of complaints annually, though upholds very few (0.7% over 2018-2022). Third party complaints are accepted in limited circumstances.

View detailed findings

Complaint-hearing mechanisms exist at both regulators. The very low upheld rate at IPSO (0.7%) raises questions about effectiveness.

IPSO rulings and resolution statements View Source
Source
Inquiry Leveson Inquiry
Report An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press 29 Nov 2012
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Press Primary
Themes & Tags
Complaint record keeping failures Press Regulation Complaints Standards Third Party
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago