L84 Response Accepted

Immediate Transparency Need

Recommendation

The suggestions that I have made in the direction of greater transparency about meetings and contacts should be considered not just as a future project but as an immediate need, not least in relation to interactions relevant to any consideration of this Report.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The UK Government has published quarterly ministerial transparency data continuously since 2010, including details of meetings with media proprietors, editors and senior executives (GOV.UK, Ministers' transparency publications).
- These publications were already in operation at the time of the Leveson report (November 2012) and have continued without interruption. The recommendation was for immediate action, which was already being met by the existing transparency regime.
- The most recent quarterly data covers October-December 2025, published 24 March 2026 (GOV.UK, Ministers' transparency publications, March 2026).
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)
This recommendation asks for cultural or behavioural change, which is difficult to verify from published sources alone. The evidence above reflects policy commitments rather than measured outcomes.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012: "On the Government's behalf I can say that we accept that recommendation" regarding disclosure of interaction between politicians and the press. Ministerial transparency data on meetings with media proprietors, editors, and senior executives has been published quarterly since 2010. 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 progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Reasonable Progress
27 Feb 2025
Government / Political parties Other

Some transparency on media contacts has been implemented through the Cabinet Office quarterly returns. However the coverage remains incomplete and the immediate implementation Leveson called for was not achieved.

View detailed findings

Partial transparency achieved but not the immediate and comprehensive disclosure recommended.

Cabinet Office transparency data 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
Politicians Primary
Themes & Tags
Weak Government Accountability & Scrutiny Politicians Transparency Lobbying Disclosure
Recommendation age 13.5 yrs
Last formal update 4931 days ago