Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the implementation of duties relating to online fraud under the Online Safety Act 2023, with particular reference to paid-for advertisements impersonating insurers and insurance ghost broking.

Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide range of stakeholders, including Ofcom, on a number of subjects such as online fraud.

Under the Online Safety Act, services designated as Category 1 and 2A (large user-to-user and large search services respectively) will have additional duties to tackle paid-for fraudulent advertising. Ofcom published its register of categorised services on 10 July; on the same day, the regulator also launched consultations on additional duties for categorised services – including on fraudulent advertising.