The volume of review requests at 43 was 17% down on the previous year and below the average of 48 per year for the previous five years.

The most striking feature of 2004 has been the small proportion of requests satisfying the criteria for reference to the ASA Council. The average for the previous five years has been 40%. In 2004 it was just 12%. As a consequence only 9% of the total requests received in 2004 has resulted in any change to the published adjudication. The average for the past five years has been 27%. In 2004 no verdict has been reversed; the only changes resulting from reconsideration by the Council have been changes to the wording of four adjudications.

The main source of requests in 2004 has been the advertiser rather than the complainant. Two thirds came from the advertiser and only one third from a complainant – an almost complete reversal of the position in 2003 but more in line with the position in previous years.

Summary analysis 1999-2004
	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Total
Total cases received	46	53	37	38	52	43	269
Cases withdrawn etc.	4	16	9	9	9	10	57
Cases in progress	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cases dismissed	22	21	17	12	24	28	124
Cases to council	20	16	11	17	19	5	88
of which reopened/in progress						1	1
Verdict unchanged	7	10	1	4	3	0	25
Verdict reversed	4	2	4	4	4	0	18
Wording changed	9	4	6	9	12	4	44

In 2004 there was a smaller proportion of requests relating to adjudications on industry complaints. In the past five years the proportion has averaged 37%, but in 2004 it was no more than 21%.

The transfer of responsibility for broadcast advertising to the ASA means that requests for a review of adjudications relating to broadcast advertising have now been brought within the Independent Reviewer system. Early in January 2005 requests began to arrive on my desk. I have already received six.

Finally a word about the time it takes me to deal with a request. I am glad to be able to report that the speed of turn round has increased. In the first two years of my tenure I was taking about eight weeks to reach a decision whether to accept or dismiss a review request. In the last two years the average has dropped to about five weeks.

As for cases which have been accepted and have been referred back to the Council, the average time taken has dropped from a peak of over 20 weeks in 2002 to just over 12 weeks in 2004.