Ofcom's TV ad plans attacked by watchdog

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The UK's consumer watchdog, the National Consumer Council, has criticised Ofcom plans to relax the way TV and radio advertising is regulated.

According to the Guardian newspaper, Ofcom, the new communications watchdog, wants to transfer everyday control of the task to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which already considers complaints about non-broadcast advertising. It is expected the ASA would use a new code of practice, drawn up by the advertising industry, to rule on complaints. But the Council is worried the self-regulatory system proposed by Ofcom would act as a "licence for advertisers to run their own show". In a document published in response to consultation on the changes, the NCC calls on Ofcom to abandon its plans unless there are radical improvements.

Under Ofcom's proposals the ASA would become a "one-stop shop" for all advertising, although Ofcom would retain "backstop powers" to deal with any intractable problems.