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L27

Legislative Recognition Requirements

Leveson Inquiry · An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press · Issued 29 November 2012 · Addressed to: UK Government

Government responsePrime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street: Accepted in part (Mar 2013)

DeliveryUK Government states no delivery position (Oct 2013)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

In order to meet the public concern that the organisation by the press of its regulation is by a body which is independent of the press, independent of Parliament and independent of the Government, that fulfils the legitimate requirements of such a body and can provide, by way of benefit to its subscribers, recognition of involvement in the maintenance of high standards of journalism, the law must identify those legitimate requirements and provide a mechanism to recognise and certify that a new body meets them.

Leveson Inquiry, An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press · 29 Nov 2012 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

The Inquiry recommended establishing legal requirements and a mechanism to recognise independent press regulators. In the Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press, granted by the Privy Council in October 2013, recitals addressed the recommendation for a recognition body to certify independent press regulators (Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press, Oct 2013). Earlier, in March 2013, David Cameron, Prime Minister, stated that statutory regulation to create a recognition body was not necessary and announced that it would be achieved "via a royal charter" (David Cameron response, Mar 2013).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026.

Report-level response context

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.

Government response

●Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street · Accepted in part · 18 Mar 2013

Words of: David Cameron, Prime Minister, speech opening the House of Commons emergency debate on the Royal Charter on Press Conduct, 18 March 2013 (HC Deb vol 560 cols 632-634)

As I believe we have shown today, statutory regulation of our media, and statutory regulation to create a recognition body, is not necessary to achieve the Leveson principles. We can do it—indeed we will do it—via a royal charter.

Response document: Royal Charter on Press Conduct (House of Commons emergency debate)

Site note: The Prime Minister's speech opening the House of Commons emergency debate on the Royal Charter on Press Conduct, 18 March 2013, as recorded in the Official Report (HC Deb vol 560, cols 632 to 634). The GOV.UK copy of the speech is the script written before it was delivered; its wording differs, and one of its passages is not in the Official Report at all, so the site quotes the record. He speaks for the Government; the site files his words under the Prime Minister's Office.

Site note: The Prime Minister gives this passage once, for the report's proposals for statutory recognition of a press regulator as a whole (col 633). The same words are recorded on recommendations 27, 28, 29, 30, 32 and 33.

Delivery

●UK Government states no delivery position · 30 Oct 2013

AND WHEREAS the Report of the Inquiry recommended that there should be a mechanism to recognise and certify an independent regulatory body or bodies for the press, and that the responsibility for such recognition and certification should rest with a recognition body: AND WHEREAS the Report of the Inquiry recommended that such a recognition body should not be involved in the regulation of the press:

From: Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press

Site note: The passage is the text of the Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press, granted on 30 October 2013. The Charter sets up the Recognition Panel and the criteria a press regulator must meet to be recognised. It does not report what any regulator or publisher has done.

Site note: The source gives this passage once, for the two recitals of the Report's recommendations on a recognition body. The same words are recorded on L27 and L28.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.