L25 Response Not Accepted

ICO and Regulatory Membership

Recommendation

In any reconsideration of the powers of the Information Commissioner (or replacement body), power should be given to that body to determine that membership of a satisfactory regulatory body, which required appropriate governance and transparency standards from its members in relation to compliance with data protection legislation and good practice, should be taken into account when considering whether it is necessary or proportionate to take any steps in relation to a subscriber to that body.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which would have created a costs incentive for publishers to join a recognised regulatory body, was enacted but never commenced (Crime and Courts Act 2013, s.40, legislation.gov.uk).
- The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport stated on 1 March 2018 that the government intended to repeal Section 40 without commencing it (Oral Statement, DCMS, 1 March 2018).
- Section 40 was omitted from the Crime and Courts Act 2013 on 24 July 2024 by the Media Act 2024, s.50(2) (Media Act 2024, legislation.gov.uk).
- No alternative power was given to the Information Commissioner to take regulatory membership into account when considering enforcement action against publishers, as Leveson recommended.
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Not Accepted
Not Accepted UK Government
29 Nov 2012

Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which would have created an incentive for publishers to join a recognised regulatory body, was enacted but never commenced. On 1 March 2018, the Secretary of State announced that Section 40 would not be commenced and would be repealed. Section 40 was repealed by Section 50 of the Media Act 2024 (Royal Assent 24 May 2024). This recommendation was contingent on a costs incentive framework that no longer exists. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/leveson-consultation-response

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 progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Not Implemented
27 Feb 2025
Government / ICO Other

The recommendation that the ICO should take regulatory membership into account when considering enforcement action was not implemented. The Data Protection Act 2018 does not give the ICO this power. The ICO has been notably cautious about enforcing data protection law against the press.

View detailed findings

Not implemented. The ICO has no statutory duty to take press regulatory membership into account.

Data Protection Act 2018 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
Information Commissioner Primary
Themes & Tags
Weak Government Accountability & Scrutiny ICO Press Regulation Data Protection Membership
Recommendation age 13.5 yrs
Last formal update 4931 days ago