Consultation: General procedures for investigating breaches of broadcast licences: Consultation on revising the procedures

Ofcom has a duty to secure the wide availability of TV and radio services throughout the UK and to help us carry this out, we grant broadcasting licences with specific licence conditions attached.

We enforce these licence conditions in line with our published General Procedures, which were last updated in April 2017. Since then, there have been developments in the types of broadcasters we regulate, changes in our approach to regulation, and an increase in our caseload. In this context, we are now reviewing our General Procedures to ensure they remain fit for purpose.

In brief, we’re proposing to:

• publish a new and more detailed administrative priorities framework;
• clarify our position on sharing information about complaints with the broadcaster;
• no longer inform complainants directly of the outcome of our assessments; and
• set a time limit for making complaints.

We are also taking this opportunity to propose a number of changes to restructure, simplify and clarify the procedures to make them easier to follow.   

Responding to the consultation

Submit responses using the consultation response form.