Written questions by Irons.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has had recent discussions with Ofcom on the (a) timetable and (b) resourcing for its work on the role of app stores in children’s access to harmful content.

The Department engages regularly with Ofcom on implementation of the Online Safety Act, including Ofcom’s statutory report on the use of app stores by children due to be published in January 2027. The Government has ensured Ofcom is sufficiently resourced and has agreed a significant uplift to Ofcom’s online safety funding in 2025/26 in recognition of Ofcom’s increased duties as implementation of the Act progresses.The Act allows the Secretary of State to bring app store providers into scope following Ofcom’s report. Our consultation on children’s technology use will also gather evidence on several measures, including strengthened age assurance.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to incorporate Ofcom’s findings on the role of app stores in protecting children from harmful content into the Government’s consultation on children’s use of technology; and whether she expects that report to inform any proposed requirements intended to apply consistently across app-based services.

The Department engages regularly with Ofcom on implementation of the Online Safety Act, including Ofcom’s statutory report on the use of app stores by children due to be published in January 2027. The Government has ensured Ofcom is sufficiently resourced and has agreed a significant uplift to Ofcom’s online safety funding in 2025/26 in recognition of Ofcom’s increased duties as implementation of the Act progresses.The Act allows the Secretary of State to bring app store providers into scope following Ofcom’s report. Our consultation on children’s technology use will also gather evidence on several measures, including strengthened age assurance.

Innovation and Technology, what comparative assessment her Department has made of (a) service-by-service age verification and (b) device, app store, or operating system level age assurance, in terms of consistency across services, enforceability and the risk of circumvention.

Ofcom considers age assurance to be highly effective when it meets particular criteria for technical accuracy, robustness, reliability and fairness, and has set out guidance on which methods meet that criteria. Ofcom will publish reports on age assurance and the use of app stores by children by July 2026 and January 2027 respectively.Age assurance under the OSA takes place at platform level. While age assurance at other levels may offer benefits, we must allow time to assess the Act’s effectiveness before introducing further measures. The public consultation on protecting children online will seek views on strengthening age assurance measures.