Ofcom as Recognition Body
Leveson Inquiry · An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press · Issued 29 November 2012 · Addressed to: Ofcom, UK Government
Government responsePrime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street: Not accepted (Mar 2013)
DeliveryUK Government says not accepted (Mar 2013)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The role of recognition body, that is to say, to recognise and certify that any particular body satisfies (and, on review, continues to satisfy) the requirements set out in law should fall on Ofcom. A less attractive alternative (on the basis that any individual will not have the requisite authority or experience and will only be occasionally be required to fulfil these functions) is for the appointment of an independent Recognition Commissioner supported by officials at Ofcom.
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 that Ofcom or an independent commissioner serve as press recognition body. In March 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron rejected appointing the regulator, explaining that he had "grave misgivings" about giving the task to an already powerful body and opted to establish a recognition body through a royal charter instead (David Cameron response, Mar 2013; David Cameron, Mar 2013). The alternative of an independent Recognition Commissioner supported by its officials was not mentioned in the statement (David Cameron response, Mar 2013; David Cameron, 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
Government response
●Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street · Not accepted · 18 Mar 2013
The House will recall that Lord Justice Leveson’s own proposal was that legislation would give Ofcom the power to act as that recognition body. I said to the House on the day the report was published that I had serious misgivings about passing detailed legislation on press regulation. I also had grave misgivings about that task being given to Ofcom, which is already a very powerful body. I was determined to try to find a better way of establishing a tough regulatory body to enforce Lord Justice Leveson’s principles, and a different way of establishing the recognition body to check it was doing its job properly. That is what the royal charter does, without the need to write down in legislation the title, definition, functions, power, rules or composition of a new system of regulation—it puts those in place in a royal charter rather than in legislation and, as a result, it does not cross that Rubicon of which I spoke.
Response document: Royal Charter on Press Conduct (House of Commons emergency debate)
Delivery
●UK Government says not accepted · 18 Mar 2013
From: Royal Charter on Press Conduct (House of Commons emergency debate), David Cameron, Prime Minister
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.