Recommendation 29

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