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Home > About Ofcom > Accountability > Ofcom's Role
Ofcom's Role
Ofcom is a statutory corporation. It is required to report annually to Parliament. The Communications Act provides that Ofcom is subject to inspection by the National Audit Office, and Ofcom is accountable to the Public Accounts Committee for propriety and value for money. The Act also provides that the Secretary of State should lay Ofcom's Annual Report before Parliament.
Ofcom covers both content and infrastructure in the communications sector. At present, these are responsibilities of separate Government departments and thus of separate Commons Select Committees who oversee those departments. There is no structured House of Lords system of oversight of Ofcom. While Ofcom is independent of Government, the Secretaries of State will answer Questions in Parliament about Ofcom: another process of indirect accountability by Ofcom (see Engagement with Ministers and advisers for copies of correspondence between Ofcom and these sponsoring departments on matters relating to Ofcom's duties).
Ofcom is structured so that the main decision making body of Ofcom is its Board. This Board is a unitary Board with a mix of executive (including the Chief Executive ) and part-time members (including the Chairman, David Currie); it has been deliberately established in this manner to replicate the boards of the companies that Ofcom regulates. Ofcom does not have a Director-General with sole decision making responsibility, a Board consisting of entirely part-time members or a body of commissioners (which were the models in the existing regulators that Ofcom has replaced).
Ofcom has a number of committees and advisory bodies which either have been given delegated powers by the main Ofcom Board or offer advice to the main Ofcom Board. These committees and advisory bodies include the Consumer Panel, the Content Board, the Nations and Regions Advisory Committees and the Older Persons and Disabled Persons Advisory Committee
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