We kindly request that the Board of Ofcom addresses concerns regarding the investigation into the Channel 4 Dispatches programme ‘The Truth About Traveller Crime’ first broadcast on 16 April 2020 (and on-demand).

On or about 26 May 2020, Ofcom announced that it would conduct an investigation into the programme after receiving complaints that the programme breached the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

Ofcom’s Procedures state that Ofcom aims to conduct investigations within 50 working days.

As of the date of launch of this petition, the investigation has not been completed. 

The number of working days that have elapsed is 242 — almost five times the period set out in the Procedures.

Ofcom has started and concluded a number of other investigations within this period.

The Executive of Ofcom has not provided a satisfactory explanation for this ongoing delay. In addition, correspondence* to the Chief Executive inviting explanation for the delay has gone unanswered.

We note that the Board has a central government function, with oversight over the fulfilment of Ofcom’s general duties and specific statutory responsibilities as well as its ethos as a public service organisation. The conduct of content standards investigations falls within this oversight responsibility, and we note that previous Board meetings have addressed content standards cases.

We are concerned at the ongoing delay in this investigation, the lack of satisfactory explanation for this delay, and the non-response to reasonable enquiry to the Chief Executive in this matter.

These failings are especially damaging to Travellers, not least as the delay prolongs uncertainty for Travellers and, in the absence of any finding that there has been a breach of the Broadcasting Code, allows anti-Traveller views resulting from the programme to persist. Such views, and associated harms, have now been well-documented, as noted, for example, in the research report Hate: “As regular as rain”—A pilot research project into the psychological effects of hate crime on Gypsy, Traveller and Roma (GTR) communities.

These failings also damage the reputation of Ofcom.

In these circumstances, we request in particular that the Board arrange an inquiry into these concerns with a view to immediate public announcement of the status of the investigation (including estimated date of completion of the investigation), explanation for the delay in the investigation, a swift conclusion of the investigation, release of a decision at the earliest, and necessary revision of the Procedures.

(*From Dermot Feenan to the Chief Executive, 27 November 2020.)