Parenting creator checks: ICO code, food ads, ad labels, child licences and Companies House

Parenting creators can use a release checklist, but each question belongs to a different lane: the online service and children's data, a food product's advertising scope, promotional labelling, child performance licensing, or company identity. Keep the evidence and decision attached to the relevant service, product, post, event or role.

Quick checklist

Start by identifying the item under review. A website, a sponsored post, a public performance and a company filing do not raise the same question, so record a separate owner and decision for each rather than treating a general compliance tick as approval.

Children's code and family content

Parliament and government required the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to introduce the statutory Children's code. The code is also called the Age appropriate design code and contains 15 standards for online services. That gives parenting creators a named starting point for the service and data checks.

The ICO introduction to the Children's code says the code applies where children are likely to access a service, even if they are not its target audience. Assess the actual service, rather than relying only on a label describing its intended audience.

Inventory details about your own children that appear in posts, alongside the data handled by site features. The code's design principles include high privacy by default, collecting and retaining only the minimum personal data, and not usually sharing children's data. A data protection review can keep the service and content questions distinct.

For child appearances, check the activity rather than assuming that being on camera settles a licensing question. A child under school leaving age may need a licence for a public performance the audience pays to see, or one held on licensed premises. The person running the event must apply to the child's local council.

Review child influencer safeguards against the actual circumstances.

Food advertising: check scope before approval

For a sponsored food post, check product scope before deciding what campaign controls to apply. ASA and Ofcom approved the associated rules and guidance; CAP and BCAP concluded their consultation on implementing the restrictions.

The published timetable gives 5 January 2026 as the date the UK-wide restrictions were due to come into force.

The Advertising (Less Healthy Food Definitions and Exemptions) Regulations 2024 give practical effect to the advertising provisions. A product is in scope only if it falls within a category in the schedule and is deemed less healthy under the 2004 to 2005 NPM using the 2011 technical guidance. A category match alone does not complete the test.

Under the DHSC 2004-05 nutrient profiling model, food is classified as HFSS at 4 or more points and drink at 1 or more points, using the January 2011 technical guidance. Keep the product category, product information and assessment together in the campaign brief. A planning template can give the decision its own field.

Before release, compare the product decision with the approved campaign and the live asset. If the category or classification remains unresolved, record it as an open approval question instead of relying on an informal impression. A quality checklist can help keep the review attached to the final version.

Ad disclosure and brand terms

Treat disclosure as a check on the published creative, not only a term in a brand deal. GOV.UK's endorsement guidance for creators says incentivised social-media content must be clearly identifiable as an ad and reflect genuine experience.

CMA guidance covers telling an audience about a direct business connection with a brand. It applies to creators who receive a free or discounted product, direct payment, commission or another incentive in connection with their social-media accounts, regardless of follower count.

If the platform's labelling tool does not clearly convey that content is an ad, use #Ad in a clear, upfront position. Put disclosure at the beginning of a podcast or video ad. In a carousel or sequence where people can access individual posts, label each item that contains promotional messaging. Recheck the live version if it changes before release.

Set out the agreed work, child participation, ownership, permitted reuse, duration and data handling in the written deal. Treat those as practical drafting checks, not a replacement for reviewing each published asset. Keep the agreed scope beside the commercial contracts and the disclosure policy.

Companies House identity and filing

Separate a company role from a creator's personal account. Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. That date began a 12-month transition period for directors and people with significant control (PSCs) to verify by their due dates; 18 November was not itself a deadline.

Companies House directors must have verified their identities before filing their next confirmation statement after 18 November 2025. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act gave Companies House power to play a more significant role in tackling economic crime and supporting economic growth. Keep that wider context separate from each person's verification and filing steps.

An individual can use Companies House' Verify your identity for Companies House service or ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider to verify their identity on their behalf. A verified identity must then be linked to each company role using a personal code and a verification statement. A current director provides their personal code in the company's next confirmation statement filing.