Funding and accountability

The ASA is guided by the principles of transparent, proportionate and targeted regulation and we take a consultative and evidence based approach to the application of the Advertising Codes. 

Our procedures are transparent and open to scrutiny and we work to published standards of service.  You can view summaries of our performance against these commitments in our Annual Report and Annual Statement.

Our funding

The ASA is wholly funded by advertisers through a levy on advertising spend 

• 0.1% on display advertising expenditure and airtime and;
• 0.2% of the Royal Mail's Mailsort contract.

We receive no Government funding and therefore our work is free to the tax payer. 

These levies are collected by two separate bodies, the Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Asbof) and the Broadcast Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Basbof).

The levy is the only part of the system that is voluntary. Advertisers can choose to pay the levy, but they cannot choose to comply with the Advertising Codes or the ASA’s rulings.

Each year the ASA pitches to Asbof and Basbof for its funding for the following year. The separate funding mechanism ensures that the ASA does not know which advertisers choose to fund the system or the amount they contribute. This means that the ASA can take on the most powerful multinational companies without worrying about next year’s subscriptions. The ASA is never aware of how much any company contributes to the system.

The levy system also means the ASA has the necessary resources to handle more than 26,000 complaints each year and independently check thousands of ads every week. In addition, the funding supports CAP’s Copy Advice service which provides pre-publication advice to advertisers, agencies and the media.

Our financial report can be found in our Annual Report section.

Consultative approach

In October 2009, we launched an independent Process Review that aims to look at further improving the ASA’s core operations in the efficient and effective delivery of our duties on behalf of consumers and advertisers. The project involves a thorough review of the ASA’s core functions from handling complaints and investigations to behind the scenes compliance work and Copy Advice for advertisers. Throughout this independently conducted review, we will invite input from interested parties and aim to complete the project in the first half of 2010. 

Complaints about the ASA

We are committed to offering a highly professional, expert and efficient service to all members of the public and regularly receive positive feedback from both complainants and advertisers through regular satisfaction surveys. A summary of our customer feedback can be found in the 'Standards of Service' sections of our Annual Report and Annual Statement. It is also published on a quarterly basis in quarterly performance reports.

If you are dissatisfied with the ASA's decision on your complaint you may be able to request a review by the Independent Reviewer of ASA Adjudications. View the details of the review procedure here.

Members of ASA staff will at all times identify themselves by name and endeavour to be as polite and helpful as possible. If you think your contact with us has not lived up to the high standards we set ourselves, and you wish to make a complaint, you should write to the Chairman of the ASA, Lord Smith of Finsbury, who will look into the matter. Go to Contact us for our postal address and other contact details.

Register of interests

A Register of Council Members’ Interests may be inspected on application to the Company Secretary. You can find our postal address and other contact details in Contact us section.