Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 14
Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for online safety regulation
Published 21 Feb 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Preparedness for online safety regulation All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
For the non-supervised service providers, Ofcom will monitor their compliance through automated data collection and analysis processes, supported by information from partner organisations that deal with the various harms. Ofcom told us that it has yet to develop the automated systems, but that it hopes the systems will provide an early warning system and enable it to spot emerging risks.25 Ofcom did not plan to ask large numbers of smaller companies for information at this stage, because it considered that 17 Q 28 18 Qq 26–28 19 Qq 28, 30, 31, 68 20 C&AG’s Report, para 1.16 21 Q 31 22 Q 16; C&AG’s Report, paras 14, 3.11 23 Q 44 24 Q 15 25 Qq 23, 48, 49: C&AG’s Report, para 3.12 Preparedness for online safety regulation 11 would not be proportionate.26 It recognised that, in an area where there has not been regulation before, this change is going to increase costs overall across the industry, and said it would therefore do everything it could to make the burden of compliance manageable and proportionate.27 It was also conscious of the need for it to manage carefully the risk that its regulation could prohibit the emergence of new players and innovation.28
From: Public Accounts Committee, Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for online safety regulation (HC 73), 21 February 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 3 May 2024 (deadline 21 April 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with the Committee's recommendations on codes of practice deadlines, compliance monitoring, the fee regime and evaluation, and disagrees with those on complaint feedback and skills audits.
- On codes of practice, the government agrees and states that Ofcom "is on track" to submit its illegal harms and protection of children Codes to the Secretary of State by 26 April 2025.
- On feedback to complainants, the government disagrees, stating that the Act "does not empower Ofcom to adjudicate on individual complaints"; these should go to the provider.
- On the fee regime, the government agrees. Ofcom will consult publicly in Summer 2024, with the aim of implementing the fees regime in the 2026-27 financial year.
- On skills audits, the government disagrees, stating that both organisations "already have effective workforce planning processes", which fulfil the intent of the recommendation.