Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 25
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)
Ofcom has undertaken extensive organisational design work to prepare for and operate the new regulatory regime.58 Ofcom explained that, to improve accountability and organisational clarity, it re-organised around four groups of work, of which online safety is one. Accountability for delivering Ofcom’s online safety responsibilities sits within this online safety group.59 Ofcom is confident that this new structure will enable it to respond quickly to new and emerging harms but acknowledged that more work is needed to embed more responsive ways of working.60 The Department told us that, at the time of our evidence session, it was at the very late stages of recruiting three non-executive directors to the Ofcom board to provide knowledge and experience across the full suite of Ofcom’s activities, including online safety.61 49 Qq 85–86 50 Q 84 51 Q 81 52 Q 8 53 C&AG’s Report, para 2.13 54 Q 8 55 C&AG’s Report, para 2.16 56 Qq 88–89 57 Qq 60, 87–89 58 C&AG’s Report, para 2.10 59 Qq 70–71 60 C&AG’s Report, para 2.11 61 Q 69 Preparedness for online safety regulation 15
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.