The ASA has been under scrutiny this year. Ofcom’s consultation into the future regulation of broadcast advertising invited public comment on the reputation and effectiveness of the ASA. The advertising industry made its own judgements about the ASA as it committed to fund a ‘one-stop shop’ for advertising regulation. Finally, the ASA came under Parliamentary scrutiny as Ofcom’s proposals to contract-out responsibility for regulating television and radio advertising were debated in both Houses of Parliament.

The last time I recall the Advertising Standards Authority being under such close examination was nearly three decades ago, when the then Consumer Minister, Shirley Williams, asked me, as Director General of Fair Trading, to review the ASA’s effectiveness. At that time, I called for the availability of a legal backstop to support the fledgling self-regulatory system, never guessing that in 2004 I would be chairing the ASA as it was once more under the Ministerial magnifying glass.

Yet the ASA has stood up to such scrutiny and, in July, Parliament voted unanimously to extend our responsibilities to include broadcast advertising: a tribute to the success of the self-regulatory system and to all those in the advertising industry who have worked to keep their own house in order. Yet this extension of our remit also carries extended responsibilities. Speaking at an advertising industry conference, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, welcomed the development of the one-stop shop but issued a stark warning that it would need to be tough enough to discharge its regulatory duties.
This warning has not gone unheeded. The ASA will be no less robust or independent in its broadcast decisions than it has been in its non-broadcast rulings over the last 40 years. The advertising industry’s need for social responsibility has been heightened, not lessened, by the extension of self-regulatory control.

The events of the last 12 months may also have a wider implication, beyond the advertising industry. Ofcom’s decision to ‘contract-out’ the regulation of broadcast advertising under provisions in the Communications Act has created a co-regulatory partnership that may become a model for regulation in future. A socially responsible industry and a statutory regulator are working together to achieve a common goal of consumer protection and fair competition. A similar system may also be established under the current provisions of the Gambling Bill and I hope that the ASA’s performance will prove a suitable model for others to follow.

As we assess the last 12 months, inevitably attention will be drawn to the first weeks of our work regulating television and radio commercials. But most of the content of this Report relates to our continuing work in regulating non-broadcast advertising content: resolving complaints, monitoring non-broadcast media and taking action against advertisers who refuse to comply with the Code.

Fewer campaigns generated large numbers of complaints than in previous years. It would be foolish of the regulator to suggest that this is because advertisers are no longer pushing at the boundaries of creativity and innovation. But, fewer posters have caused widespread offence because of sexual imagery, nudity or concern about what children might see. Instead, most complaints about outdoor advertising have been generated by religious imagery or references. In such cases the ASA must judge whether the offence caused to a minority is so serious that the unoffended majority should be prevented from seeing the ads in question.

Organisational change takes time, energy and commitment and the changes at the ASA have impacted on all of us. The ASA Council have accepted an increased weekly caseload, with additional TV and radio complaints to consider. One Council member, Lizzie Marsden, came to the end of her maximum six years on Council and I was pleased to welcome four new members to an expanded Council: Nigel Walmsley, Alison Goodman, Chitra Bharucha and Neil Watts. My thanks go to all my colleagues on Council who have approached their new broadcast responsibilities with the same attention to detail and considered judgements that characterise their non-broadcast deliberations.

A bigger team of staff – including those with broadcast expertise who joined us from Ofcom – is now working in our new offices in Holborn. The one-stop shop approach means that the public can contact a single regulator, while behind the scenes two separate systems work in parallel, ensuring the continuing independence of non-broadcast self-regulation. But the separation of the ASA’s broadcast and non-broadcast responsibilities, with their corresponding legal entities, has not prevented teamwork across the company. I pay tribute to all the staff for their enthusiasm and professionalism during this period of change.