L75 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Discontinue Off-the-record Term

Recommendation

The term 'off-the-record briefing' should be discontinued. The term 'non-reportable briefing' should be used to cover a background briefing which is not to be reported, and the term 'embargoed briefing' should be used to cover a situation where the content of the briefing may be reported but not until a specified event or time. These terms more neutrally describe what are legitimate police and media interactions.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the College of Policing (1 May 2013), the College of Policing issued Authorised Professional Practice on Media Relations in May 2013, which implemented this recommendation. According to the College of Policing (1 May 2013), the guidance replaced the term 'off-the-record briefing' with 'non-reportable briefing' and 'embargoed briefing' in official police communications. According to gov.uk (29 November 2012), the Prime Minister expressed support for these police recommendations on 29 November 2012.
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
This recommendation asks for cultural or behavioural change, which is difficult to verify objectively. The assessment is based on policy commitments, not measured outcomes.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012: "Lord Justice Leveson makes a number of recommendations that are designed to break the perception of an excessively cosy relationship between the press and the police and we support these recommendations." The College of Policing published Authorised Professional Practice on Media Relations in May 2013 implementing the police recommendations. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report

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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.

Confirmed Completed
01 May 2013
College of Policing Other

College of Policing issued media relations guidance in May 2013 implementing Leveson's recommendation. The term 'off-the-record briefing' was replaced with 'non-reportable briefing' and 'embargoed briefing' in official guidance.

View detailed findings

Terminology change implemented through College of Policing guidance, as recommended.

College of Policing - Media Relations APP 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
National Police Chiefs Council Primary
Police Primary
Themes & Tags
Police media disclosure Police Media Relations Terminology Briefings
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago