Recommendation 25

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