Immediate Transparency Need
Leveson Inquiry · An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press · Issued 29 November 2012 · Addressed to: Politicians
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry 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.
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:
- 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).
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
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
UK Government · 29 Nov 2012 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 27 Feb 2025 · Government / Political parties 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 source → Reasonable Progress
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.