Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 29
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)
The Department and Ofcom also recognise the role evaluation will play in ensuring the regulatory regime’s future success. For example, Ofcom is developing evaluations and key metrics to make sure that its proposals are being acted on and are having the effect that it intended, while the Online Safety Act requires the Department to undertake an evaluation of regulatory effectiveness within two to five years after the Act received Royal Assent. The Department has been working with Ofcom to ensure their evaluation activities complement each other. However, Ofcom has yet to finalise the performance metrics it will use to evaluate the impact of its different interventions, and the Department has important gaps in its evidence base. Evaluation will also be challenging owing to the nature of the regulated harms, the fast-changing landscape, the novelty of the regulatory regime and the lack of international precedents, and the lack of relevant data and metrics.68 62 Q 36 63 Q 17; C&AG’s Report para 1.3 64 Qq 17, 75, 77; C&AG’s Report paras 3.5–3.7 65 Qq 74, 75, 77 66 Qq 23, 75, 77; C&AG’s Report para 3.7 67 Q 67 68 Qq 23, 73, 78; C&AG’s Report paras 3.13–3.15 16 Preparedness for online safety regulation
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.