Recommendation L91: Media Merger Referral Consultation
From An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press, published 29 November 2012.
Recommendation
Before making a decision to refer a media merger to the competition authorities on public interest grounds, the Secretary of State should consult relevant parties as to the arguments for and against a referral, and should be required to make public his reasons for reaching a decision one way or the other.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry recommended consulting relevant parties and publishing reasons regarding media merger referrals. In August 2014, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport stated that it would not consider changes to the regulatory framework for media plurality until a measurement framework and baseline assessment were delivered (Department for Culture, Media and Sport response, Aug 2014). The department noted that its consultation response did not review existing policy levers or propose remedies (Department for Culture, Media and Sport response, Aug 2014).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Government has been clear that it will not consider changes to the existing policy or regulatory framework for media plurality until the measurement framework and baseline assessment have been delivered, so that we can ensure any changes are proportionate and targeted. Therefore our response to the consultation does not seek to review existing regulatory and policy levers, nor does it seek to propose potential remedies.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
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.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from UK Government has been found in the sources searched (last checked 24 February 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- UK Government
Response