The body that brings together UK news and magazine publishers, The Industry Implementation Group, is today publishing the final set of plans for the establishment of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).
The announcement comes after a series of consultations across the industry, involving lawyers and senior editorial representatives covering hundreds of publications.
The final plans, which the group says the vast majority of publishers have indicated they are committed, are contained in a series of legal documents, totalling over 80 pages, which will be published on a dedicated website, www.ipso.co.uk.
The documents include the contract which will bind publishers to IPSO and give the regulator “tough powers of investigation”, “enforcement and sanction” and the “regulations under which IPSO will operate, investigate complaints and undertake standards investigations.”
Other documents outline the governance of the regulator and “guarantee its independence” as well as guidance about imposing fines, which can reach £1 million.
The group says it has now started the process of asking publishers formally to sign the contracts, which will begin through the industry’s trade associations, a process expected to take around eight weeks.
The two processes of legal implementation and independent appointments procedures should be completed to allow IPSO to begin work early in the new year.
“Today’s publication is the result of almost nine months of work and consultation across our large and diverse industry,” said Paul Vickers, chairman of the Industry Implementation Group and executive director of Trinity Mirror plc.
“As a result of this painstaking and thorough exercise, we can now move to establish the tough, independent, effective regulator that Lord Justice Leveson called for in his report.
“I am very grateful to many colleagues in the industry – both legal and editorial – who have completed such a mammoth task.
“I am confident that what we have produced will be the toughest regulator anywhere in the developed world – one which will guarantee the public the protection it deserves, but which will also ensure we maintain the free press on which our democracy is founded.”
