Reference: 01114681

Roshni Narayanan Information Rights Advisor Information.requests@.org.uk

5 March 2021

Freedom of Information: Right to know request Thank you for your request for information in relation to complaints about two ITV programmes: The Show and Judge Rinder.

We received this request on 8 February 2021 and have considered it under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”).

Your request You asked:

Please could you provide all the relevant information to answer the questions below regarding The Jeremy Kyle show of ITV:

1) Please provide a number of complaints you received regarding The Jeremy Kyle show of ITV in the history of the show? 2) Please provide the nature of the complaints of each complaint you received regarding The Jeremy Kyle Show of ITV? 3) Please provide what was done while investigating each complaint you received regarding The Jeremy Kyle Show of ITV? 4) Please Provide the outcome of each complaint you received regarding the Jeremy Kyle Show of ITV?

In addition

Please could you provide all the relevant information to answer the questions below regarding Judge Rinder of ITV:

1) Please provide a number of complaints you received regarding Judge Rinder of ITV in the history of the show? 2) Please provide the nature of the complaints of each complaint you received regarding Judge Rinder of ITV? 3) Please provide what was done while investigating each complaint you received regarding Judge Rinder of ITV? 4) Please Provide the outcome of each complaint you received regarding Judge Rinder of ITV?

Page 1 of 3

Our response By way of background, Ofcom is the regulator for television and radio services and only regulates content that is broadcast. Ofcom considers complaints about content standards under Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code (“the Code”). In accordance with our published procedures for investigating breaches of content standards for television and radio, we review every complaint we receive to make an initial assessment, which involves a consideration of whether it raises potentially substantive issues under the Code that warrant investigation by Ofcom. In cases where Ofcom considers there may have been a breach of the Code (or other Ofcom codes or licence conditions), it will launch an investigation. The possible outcomes of an investigation are that we judge an issue is in breach, resolved or not in breach of our rules. Ofcom publishes decisions about complaints we have received in the Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin, published fortnightly on our website. You can find decisions about complaints we have received since January 2020 on our website, and you can find earlier issues of the Bulletin here and The National Archives.

Although details of all complaints we have considered are available in the Bulletin and the National Archives, we do hold searchable records for complaints on our complaints database, therefore for ease of reference we have provided a table of complaints recorded there for each of these programmes, in Annex A. Please note that we only hold searchable records for standards assessment cases from January 2014, and standards investigations from June 2011.

As reflected in Annex A, we have a record of 469 complaints about The Jeremy Kyle Show, and 56 complaints about Judge Rinder. Please refer to Annex A for further information on the issue raised in the complaints and the outcome. Please refer to our published procedures for investigating breaches of content standards for television and radio for more information on how we investigate complaints.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further queries, then please send them to [email protected] quoting the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

Roshni Narayanan

Page 2 of 3

If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request for information and/or consider that your request was refused without a reason valid under the law you may ask for an internal review. If you ask us for an internal review of our decision, it will be subject to an independent review within Ofcom.

The following outcomes are possible: • the original decision is upheld; or • the original decision is reversed or modified.

Timing If you wish to exercise your right to an internal review you should contact us within two months of the date of this letter. There is no statutory deadline for responding to internal reviews and it will depend upon the complexity of the case. However, we aim to conclude all such reviews within 20 working days, and up to 40 working days in exceptional cases. We will keep you informed of the progress of any such review. If you wish to request an internal review, you should contact [email protected].

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF

Page 3 of 3