Select committee: Communications and Digital Committee
Recommendation 63
3rd Report - Digital regulation: joined-up and accountable
Published 13 Dec 2021
Communications and Digital Committee Digital regulation All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We recommend that statutory duties be introduced on regulators in the DRCF to cooperate and consult with each other, allowing them to share their powers and jointly regulate.
From: Communications and Digital Committee, 3rd Report - Digital regulation: joined-up and accountable, 13 December 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 28 March 2022 (deadline 31 March 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the report and agrees with many of its wider recommendations, but will not take forward the proposed Digital Regulation Board or a Joint Committee on Digital Regulation.
- On statutory coordination, the government agrees on the need for strong coordination, but says non-statutory forms "have an important role to play". It recognises statutory measures "may be needed" in some situations and will "shortly publish" its response to the pro-competition and data consultations, including its approach to statutory coordination measures.
- The government is "not intending to take forward" the Digital Regulation Board recommendation, citing concerns that a statutory body with powers to direct regulators "would confuse issues of regulator independence and accountability". It commits to working with the DRCF to maximise its efficacy in non-statutory form.
- On DRCF membership, the government recognises that a wider range of regulators plays an important role. It welcomes further details from the DRCF on its future engagement strategy with other regulators through its 2022/23 work plan.
- On a joint committee, the government agrees that parliamentary oversight has an important role but "does not support the recommendation", citing "real risks of duplication". It intends to work with Parliament to support scrutiny of the Online Safety Act using expertise in both Houses.