Parliamentary Committee endorses Sir Ian Cheshire for Ofcom Chair role

Back in April, the Government named Sir Ian Cheshire as its preferred candidate for Chair of telecoms regulator Ofcom. This role is subject to parliamentary hearings before the appointment is confirmed. Sir Ian was previously chair of Channel 4 so had extensive broadcasting experience and a strong governance background, however there were concerns about his lack of any background in online safety, one of the key areas of focus for Ofcom in the coming few years following the introduction of the Online Safety Act. There are expected curbs on young children and use of social media as well as continuing enforcement of OSA provisions on age verification which remain controversial in applications against non-UK based organisations.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee held a hearing last week, has now announced it endorses Sir Ian to take over as Chair of Ofcom.

“Ofcom’s primary duty is to the British public. To be an effective regulator, and to tackle complex, urgent and fast-changing issues like online safety, it needs strong, capable and proactive leadership.  

Following our pre-appointment hearing, the committee is satisfied that Sir Ian Cheshire has the skills and experience required to chair the regulator. However, we are clear that Sir Ian should prioritise improving his knowledge of the UK’s online safety landscape, to represent the regulator in difficult discussions with global tech companies and effectively enforce the Online Safety Act.  

Sir Ian told my committee that, once appointed, he will identify metrics to evaluate his performance by the end of his first year in office. Given Ofcom’s high-profile and broad remit, and the role of Parliament in holding regulators and their leadership to account, we hope to receive these within his first six months, as part of a wider programme of much-needed change at Ofcom.”

Dame Chi Onwurah MP, Chair, Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

Dame Chi Onwurah did note that she used to work for Ofcom prior to joining Parliament 2004 and recounted that the Chair at the time was clear that “Ofcom should not be regulating the Internet as it was too big, too difficult and too controversial“, whilst it now includes the postal service, the BBC, datacentres and the Online Safety Act. This has clearly shown the change in the role of the Internet and some of its larger players in day-to-day life.