Complaints Committee Composition
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.
- IPSO's Complaints Committee has a majority of independent members and no serving editors. This is set out in IPSO's governance documents (IPSO, accessed March 2026).
- IMPRESS's complaints and standards processes similarly exclude serving editors and maintain an independent majority (IMPRESS, accessed March 2026).
- The Press Recognition Panel confirmed in its third cyclical review of IMPRESS (2025) that IMPRESS meets the Royal Charter criterion requiring no serving editors on the complaints committee (PRP Cyclical Review, 2025).
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.
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.