Discontinue Off-the-record Term
Leveson Inquiry · An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press · Issued 29 November 2012 · Addressed to: National Police Chiefs Council, Police
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry 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.
Leveson Inquiry, An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press · 29 Nov 2012 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The NPCC, which replaced ACPO in April 2015, has published guidance on police-media relationships and briefing protocols (NPCC, Communications guidance).
- No published evidence that the specific terminology recommended — replacing "off-the-record" with "non-reportable briefing" and "embargoed briefing" — has been formally adopted as standard police terminology has been identified to March 2026.
Sources
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
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
UK Government · 29 Nov 2012 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 May 2013 · College of Policing 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 source → Confirmed Completed
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.