Ofcom is the body in the UK responsible for issuing licences to television and radio broadcasters. All Ofcom licences contain conditions which broadcasters must adhere to. When Ofcom investigates whether a broadcaster has breached its licence obligations (or in the case of the BBC, a requirement set out in The Agreement) it follows certain published procedures.
Ofcom has published three sets of procedures in this respect concerning:
- Broadcasting standards or other licence-related cases ("the Standards Procedures");
- Fairness and privacy complaints ("the F&P Procedures"); and
- Sanctions in cases relating to broadcasting ("the Sanctions Procedures").
Ofcom has identified a number of areas where improvements to the Procedures could be made to improve the complaints experience for members of the public and broadcasters by allowing more effective and timely enforcement. On 11 June 2009, Ofcom published a consultation document ("the Consultation") proposing changes to its published Procedures and seeking views on those proposals.
Our objectives are to:
- Create more straight-forward processes aimed at dealing with complaints quicker;
- Ensure consistency between all of the Procedures;
- Streamline and simplify the current sanctions process and create a Broadcasting Sanctions Committee with the sole responsibility for considering and determining statutory sanctions;
- Streamline and simplify the review process by introducing a comprehensive and consistent review procedure with the possibility of reconsidering decisions of the Ofcom Executive; and
- Introduce a mechanism closing complaints during the initial assessment process where they clearly do not raise any issues that warrant further investigation.
The Consultation closed on 21 August 2009 and Ofcom received a total of 12 responses, primarily from broadcasters. Four respondents requested that their responses be kept confidential. The remaining responses are available on Ofcom's website.
Ofcom has now fully considered all responses received and has finalised the Procedures. Each of the Standards Procedures, the F&P Procedures and the Sanctions Procedures are published alongside this document and will come into effect immediately.
The purpose of this document is to address issues raised by respondents and to indicate any changes which Ofcom has made to the proposals in the Consultation.