Update: We have added an FAQ below in response to questions received about the tender. We will update this during the tender period as needed to ensure all prospective bidders have the same information.
The Press Recognition Panel (PRP) is inviting tenders for independent research into the economic costs and benefits of implementing incentives for news publishers to participate in the Recognition System.
We are looking for research to build a strong evidence base on the financial, societal, and systemic implications of enabling the Recognition System to operate as intended. This should include consideration of the costs and benefits for news publishers, individuals affected by press harm, journalists, the courts, public finances, and wider society.
The Recognition System was established following the Leveson Inquiry to support independent, effective press self-regulation in the UK. It provides assurance that press self-regulatory bodies meet the standards set out in the Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the Press, including independence, effective complaints handling and access to low-cost arbitration.
The research should include quantitative analysis, such as economic modelling and data analysis, and may also include qualitative approaches, such as stakeholder interviews or surveys. We are particularly interested in proposals that test previous assumptions about the costs of incentives for participation, consider partial or alternative incentive models, and assess the economic implications of maintaining the current position.
The full invitation to tender, including the specification, evaluation criteria and submission requirements, is available here.
Tenders must be submitted by 5pm on 3 September 2026.
We anticipate that the research will commence on 1 October 2026 and conclude by 15 January 2027, subject to the successful tenderer’s proposed methodology and timetable.
For further information, please refer to the tender document or contact our Chief Executive, Susie Uppal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the intended audience for the research, and what is the PRP hoping to achieve?
The primary audience is Government, with the research intended to provide an independent evidence base to inform policy decisions about the economic, societal and systemic implications of incentives for news publishers to participate in the Recognition System.
In particular, we want the research to assist policymakers in assessing the costs and benefits of different incentive models, including the implications of maintaining the current position.
Secondary audiences will include Parliamentarians, the press industry, journalists, organisations representing people affected by press harm and the wider public.
The PRP is not seeking research that simply makes the case for a particular policy intervention; we want a robust evidence base that allows the costs, benefits and potential impacts of different approaches to be properly assessed.
Will the PRP provide access to relevant data?
The PRP does not hold the relevant legal claims data and the successful bidder would therefore need to identify and source appropriate data independently.
We would expect the successful bidder to determine the most appropriate datasets and methodology for assessing the relevant costs and benefits, including the costs associated with legal action against publishers.
Where robust quantitative data are not available, we would expect bidders to explain how this limitation would be addressed within the proposed methodology.
Will the PRP help identify participants for surveys and interviews?
The PRP does not prescribe a particular number of participants, as this will depend on the successful bidder’s proposed methodology and the research questions being addressed.
We would expect any surveys or interviews undertaken to be appropriately designed and sufficiently robust to support the conclusions drawn from them, with bidders setting out their proposed sample sizes and sampling approach.
The PRP would be willing, where possible, to facilitate contact with relevant stakeholders and individuals for interviews or targeted surveys, although we would not be able to recruit participants for a general public survey or guarantee participation.
Responsibility for the design, recruitment, conduct and analysis of any survey or interview exercise would remain with the successful bidder.
We would also expect the stakeholder strategy to reflect the full scope of the research, which may include news publishers, regulators, journalists, legal professionals, courts and organisations or individuals representing people affected by press harm, as appropriate to the methodology.
What budget is available for the research?
The PRP has not set a fixed budget for this work.
Bidders should therefore propose a scope and methodology that they consider appropriate to the research objectives and provide separate pricing for the different components of the research.
This will allow the PRP to assess the relative value of different components and, if necessary, determine the appropriate scope of the commissioned work.
The PRP may, subject to its priorities and available resources, decide to commission different components of the research in successive years; inclusion of a component in a bidder’s proposal should not be taken as a commitment by the PRP to commission that component.
