Advising CAP (Broadcast) on the Broadcast Codes
The Advertising Advisory Committee (AAC) was established in January 2005 to provide independent, third party advice to the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) – the body that writes and enforces the rules that control television and radio advertising.
While BCAP is made up of representatives of broadcasters, advertisers and advertising agencies, seven members of the AAC are consumer experts and are independent of the advertising industry. These seven members were appointed following public advertisement and each one brings different skills and expertise to the AAC. You can read more about them below. The eighth member is Andrew Brown, Chairman of BCAP, who brings his knowledge and experience of the advertising industry to the AAC.
Our role is to ensure that the concerns of viewers and listeners are taken into account whenever the broadcast advertising codes are revised or updated. BCAP must ask the AAC for input whenever it decides to change the codes and provide a formal response to the advice given. Our first task in 2005 will be to advise BCAP on its new guidance for alcohol advertising on television.
We welcome contributions from viewers and listeners outlining their concerns about the content of TV and radio advertisements. You can write to us directly at contact@advertisingadvisorycommittee.org.uk. It won’t be possible for us to reply personally to all the e-mails we receive but every comment will be considered.
The AAC does not make judgements about individual advertisements. If you wish to make a complaint about a specific advertisement you have seen or heard on TV or the radio, please contact the Advertising Standards Authority. You can make a complaint via their website at www.asa.org.uk.
Elizabeth Filkin
Chair.
Members of the AAC
AAC Chair
Elizabeth Filkin
Elizabeth Filkin is currently Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Post-Shipman Group and is a member of the Regulatory Decisions Committee of the Financial Services Authority. From 1999 - 2002 she was the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. Previously she was a Commissioner for the Audit Commission, The Adjudicator for the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise and Chief Executive of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux.
AAC Members
Jacqueline Hughes-Lundy
Jacqueline has extensive knowledge of both the public and private sectors having worked in the financial services, broadcasting and charity sectors. She has served on the Community Foundation for Greater Manchester since 2000 and is currently its Vice-President. Jacqueline was Chairman of the Independent Television Commission (the then regulatory body for television) Viewers Consultative Council for the Granada region from 1999 to 2002.
David Jessel
David Jessel was appointed as a Commissioner to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2000. He is also the presenter of Channel Four’s Trial and Error programme. A highly-acclaimed journalist, David has won numerous awards for his sensitive and insightful interviews. In 1998, he was awarded the RTS Special Award for his career in investigating miscarriages of justice. David continues to present news programmes for BBC World Television as well as writing documentaries.
Stephen Locke
Stephen Locke is a specialist consultant on consumer policy and regulation. He currently serves on the boards of the National Consumer Council and ICSTIS – the premium-rate telephone services regulatory body - as well as on the Consumer Panel advising the Financial Services Authority.
Previously, Stephen held a range of senior posts in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, including Consumers’ Association where he was Director of Research and Policy. His most recent full-time post was as Director of Advertising and Sponsorship at the Independent Television Commission, where he played a major part in the preparations for the new Communications Act and the creation of Ofcom, the communications super-regulator.
Colin Munro
Colin Munro is Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Edinburgh, where he teaches and writes on public law. Previously he was Professor of Law at Manchester University, following appointments at the Universities of Birmingham, Durham and Essex. Colin is a member of the Consultative Council of the British Board of Film Classification and of the Scottish Media Lawyers Society
Laura Simons
Laura Simons is an independent consultant in communications and public relations with considerable experience in the not-for-profit sector. After starting her career in the Citizens’ Advice Bureaux service, Laura moved to Consumers’ Association. She also worked as Director of Communications at the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Head of PR at the Food Standards Agency. She sat on the ITC Advertising Advisory Committee as an independent consumer representative from 2002-2003.
Jenny Watson
Jenny Watson is a Senior Human Rights Advisor for Global Partners and Associates and is Deputy Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission. She also serves as a independent director of the Banking Code Standards Board; Deputy Chair of the UK Committee on Radioactive Waste Management and the Advisory Board of the British Institute of Human Rights.
A published author, Jenny has previously worked for Liberty, Charter88, and the Human Rights Act Research Unit at King’s College, London.
Dr Michael Wilks
Dr Michael Wilks was a general practitioner who joined the Metropolitan Police in 1992 as a senior forensic physician. He now combines the police work with an active role within the British Medical Association. He has been chairman of the BMA’s Medical Ethics Committee since 1997, and is Chairman of the BMA’s policy-making body, the Representative Body. Michael has a long standing interest in medical ethics and law, in forensic medicine, and in the treatment of addictive disease. He speaks and broadcasts on issues related to medical ethics and forensic medicine.
Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown is Chairman of the Committees of Advertising Practice. He is a Director of the Advertising Standards Board of Finance and a Director and member of the Executive Committee of the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA).