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SP23 Accepted

Coroner and inquiry Ofcom notification powers

Southport Inquiry · The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 · Issued 13 April 2026 · Addressed to: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Source — verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology should consider extending the powers under the Online Safety Act 2023 to enable Senior Coroners to make a notification to Ofcom to obtain access to social media accounts of perpetrators (not just of a child who has died), and for statutory Inquiries to be able to make a notification to Ofcom to obtain access to the social media accounts of both a child who has died and also a perpetrator.

Southport Inquiry, The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 · 13 Apr 2026 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:

- Ofcom guidance states that from 30 September it can require tech firms to preserve data about a deceased child's activity if requested by the coroner investigating the child's death, under powers in the Online Safety Act 2023 and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025; the guidance addresses deceased children and does not reference perpetrators or statutory inquiries (Preserving information about a child's online activity following a coroner's request, Ofcom, September 2025).
- The government stated DSIT has initiated a review of existing powers available to Senior Coroners and statutory Inquiries to identify gaps and whether powers can be expanded, and that any decision on next steps will be subject to ministerial sign-off and parliamentary process (Government Response to Phase 1 of the Southport Inquiry, CP 1623, Home Office, July 2026).
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by claude-opus-4-8 on 02 Jul 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)

Response — verbatim from government

●Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is the lead department, with input from other government departments. Progress and next steps:
- DSIT has initiated a review of the existing powers available to Senior Coroners and statutory Inquiries, to identify whether are any gaps in the existing framework and whether there are any ways to expand or strengthen these powers.
- Any decision on next steps will be subject to ministerial sign-off and parliamentary process (if required).

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology · 2 Jul 2026 Written response →

Evidence trail — what's actually happened since

  • 2 Jul 2026 · Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Government response published 2 July 2026 (CP 1623). The government accepted this recommendation; the lead department reports implementation is in progress. Source →

Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.

How this page is built

Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.

This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.