Ring-fenced Enforcement Fund
A new regulatory body should establish a ring-fenced enforcement fund, into which receipts from fines could be paid, for the purpose of funding investigations.
- IPSO has not established a ring-fenced enforcement fund (IPSO, accessed March 2026).
- IPSO has imposed zero fines in over ten years of operation (September 2014 to March 2026), so there are no fine receipts to ring-fence for funding investigations (IPSO Annual Reports 2015-2024, accessed March 2026).
- No published evidence has been identified of any plan to establish such a fund.
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.
No ring-fenced enforcement fund has been established by IPSO. Since IPSO has never imposed any fines, there are no fine receipts to ring-fence.
View detailed findings
Not implemented. No enforcement fund exists, and no fines have ever been collected.