L13 Response Accepted in Part AI-assessed

Complaints Committee Composition

Recommendation

Serving editors should not be members of any Committee advising the Board on complaints and any such Committee should have a composition broadly reflecting that of the main Board, with a majority of people who are independent of the press.

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 independent self-regulation in 2012. According to independent evidence (27 February 2025), the Complaints Committee of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) has a majority of independent members and does not include any serving editors; IMPRESS's complaints committee also meets these composition criteria.
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

IPSO's Complaints Committee has a majority of independent members and no serving editors. IMPRESS similarly meets this criterion.

View detailed findings

Both regulators have complaints committees with independent majorities and no serving editors.

IPSO Complaints Committee composition 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 Governance Independence
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago