1.1 Ofcom is the UK body responsible for issuing licences to television and radio broadcasters.
1.2 Ofcom has general duties in relation to broadcasting which include securing the availability throughout the United Kingdom of a wide range of television and radio services which (taken as a whole) are both of high quality and calculated to appeal to a variety of tastes and interests. Ofcom also has more specific duties in relation to, for example, the provision of subtitling, signing and audio description and the requirement for a commercial radio station to deliver "the proposition" set out in its published Format.
1.3 In order to ensure that Ofcom is able to fulfil its duties, all broadcasters must adhere to specific requirements placed in their licence, or in the case of the BBC and S4C , who are not required to hold licences, to any relevant enforceable requirement (taken together these requirements are referred to as "a relevant requirement"). Examples of such relevant requirements can be found in paragraph A1.13 of the General Procedures for investigating breaches of broadcast licences ("General Procedures") at Annex 1.
1.4 Ofcom has produced specific procedures which apply to investigations of breaches of certain categories of regulatory requirement. These specific procedures are listed in the table below. A potential breach of the types shown in the table below would generally be investigated under the corresponding specific procedure.
| Category of regulatory requirement | Specific procedure |
|---|---|
| Content standards objectives set out under section 319 of the Communications Act 2003 and applied in the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and other codes . | Procedures for investigating breaches of content standards for television and radio . |
| Fairness and/or privacy requirements set out under Part 5 of the Broadcasting Act 1996 and applied in the Ofcom Broadcasting Code. | Procedures for the consideration and adjudication of Fairness & Privacy complaints. |
| Licence conditions and relevant codes to ensure fair and effective competition in the provision of broadcast services. | Enforcement Guidelines, Ofcom's guidelines for the handling of competition complaints and complaints concerning regulatory rules. |
1.5 There have previously been no published procedures which cover how we investigate potential breaches of licence conditions other than those listed in the table above.
1.6 On 19 July 2013 Ofcom published a consultation called General Procedures for investigating breaches of broadcast licences ("the Consultation") proposing the introduction of these General Procedures for investigating breaches of broadcast licences and sought views on those proposals.