Recommendation 23

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

The government welcomes the Committee’s support of the establishment of the Online Fraud Steering Group and its sub-groups. We look forward to seeing the products of this partnership, both in developing the collective understanding of the threat and new actions to counter it. The public-private partnership is essential in tackling fraud, and it is vital that the technology sector and online companies play their part. That is why in October 2021, the Home Office relaunched the Joint Fraud Taskforce, chaired by the Security Minister. The Joint Fraud Taskforce has an extended membership, including representation from the technology and online sectors for the first time. The Online Safety Bill represents a new, game-changing regulatory regime overseeing the online and tech sectors. The expectation under this Bill is that all regulated companies comply with the codes of practice being led by Ofcom and do all they can to protect their users from harm. The bill outlines the penalties for breaching this regulation including substantial financial penalties. The Home Office is also intending to launch a technology and online sector charter with industry. This will include private and public actions that will drive down fraud in these sectors. This follows the publication of a series of voluntary charters with the retail banking, telecommunications, and accountancy sectors in October 2021. The Government will consider all opportunities, including legislation, to ensure that the public are kept safe from these terrible crimes and that law enforcement have the powers needed to bring those who commit them to justice.