Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to put in place formal advocacy arrangements for children, funded by an industry levy, in the Online Safety Bill; and if she will make a statement.

Protecting children is at the heart of our plans to transform the online experience for people in the UK and the strongest protections in the online safety framework will be for children. Under these new laws, Ofcom will have a statutory duty to establish mechanisms for user advocacy. This is to ensure Ofcom understands the experiences of users, including children, and is able to detect and address issues early on.

The costs incurred by Ofcom in carrying out its functions under the Online Safety Bill, will be met by proportionate fees charged to industry.

Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill by Parliament is underway, and the Joint Committee is expected to report with their recommendations by 10th December.