Governance and Accountability

The PCC is committed to ensuring that its work and procedures are transparent and open to scrutiny. In addition to the information given below, you might also find it helpful to consult the Who’s who section of this website for information about the PCC’s committees.

In August 2009, the Chairman of the PCC announced an independent review of the PCC's governance procedures. Please click here to visit the web pages of the review, which gives more details.

How we are funded

The PCC is funded by the newspaper and magazine industry but operates independently of it. Newspapers and magazines pay an annual levy to the Press Standards Board of Finance (Pressbof), an organisation modelled on the self-regulatory system established by the advertising industry in 1974. This arrangement ensures secure financial support for the PCC, while its complete independence is at the same time guaranteed by a majority of lay members. A list of members of PressBof is available here. The PCC receives no government funding and is free from statutory control. An overview of the benefits of the self regulatory system can be found here.

Complaints about the PCC

The PCC is confident of offering a first-rate service to members of the public, and regularly receives excellent feedback from complainants. However, if complainants have concerns about the manner in which their complaints have been handled by the Commission, they can write (within one month of the conclusion of the complaint) to the independent Charter Commissioner, more information about whom is available here.

Articles of Association

This document sets out the PCC’s rules for the running of its internal affairs under the Companies Act 1985, and can be accessed here

Register of Interests

The Register of Interests records the professional and public interests held by members and Directors of the PCC, and is available here

Rules on conflict of interest

This document sets out the PCC’s rules on conflict of interest for its Directors and members, and is available here

If you have any questions that are not answered on this website, please contact us.