Power to Hear Complaints
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.
- IPSO hears and decides complaints about breaches of the Editors' Code by subscribing publications. IPSO accepts complaints from anyone, whether or not they are personally affected (IPSO, Make a Complaint, accessed March 2026).
- IMPRESS hears complaints about breaches of its Standards Code from any person (IMPRESS, accessed March 2026).
- IPSO's annual reports indicate that it receives thousands of complaints annually but upholds a small proportion (IPSO Annual Reports, accessed March 2026).
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted in Part
Response
Accepted in PartThe 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
Published Evidence
Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
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.