One-stop shop on course for 1 November launch

26 October 2004

Plans to contract-out the regulation of TV and radio advertising to a new, enlarged ASA passed their final hurdle on 16 July when Parliament agreed to Ofcom's proposals. Now work is underway to get everything in place for the launch of the new ASA on 1 November.

New Staff

Some members of staff now dealing with advertising regulation at Ofcom will join the new ASA bringing with them their experience of broadcast advertising and the TV and radio advertising codes. The ASA and CAP wish them a warm welcome.

Recruitment for other roles is also underway. Visit the Career Opportunities section of the ASA website, where the roles are being advertised. The organisation will increase in size from around 70 to 106 staff to deal with the anticipated rise in complaints resulting from the creation of a one-stop-shop for advertising complaints.

New Building

To accommodate more people, the ASA and CAP Executive is moving to new offices in Holborn. We shall let all Update subscribers know of our new contact details before we move.

New IT

Our IT experts are working to ensure the new ASA's IT systems are equipped to deal with broadcast. A new database for complaints and satellite TV access are just two of the many parts of the IT project plan.

New Communications

Our Communications team is busy building new websites incorporating the broadcast codes, producing literature about the new system and arranging events to publicize and educate our stakeholders about the forthcoming changes.

New Finances

Advertisers have begun funding the new system through a 0.1% levy on broadcast advertising. For more information on the levy, phone the Broadcast Advertising Standards Board of Finance (Basbof) on 020 7580 7071.

Same quality service

While we build the new system, the ASA continues to investigate and adjudicate on complaints about non-broadcast ads in the same robust manner and the CAP Copy Advice team remains committed to delivering quality advice.