Member

All noble Lords, in one way or another, asked about Ofcom’s capacity to deal with complaints in addition to what is undoubtedly the very wide set of responsibilities it already has. Of course, that has to be balanced with the fact that the SI restricts how often entities can submit super-complaints. We have tried to get the balance right between Ofcom’s capacity and the opportunity for people to put their super-complaints into the process. To protect Ofcom’s resources, entities can submit only one complaint every six months; however, a complaint can cover multiple linked issues. In addition, should an entity submit one complaint then decide that there is a more pressing matter to be considered, it is able to replace its complaint with a new one within a six-month period. Ofcom will also reject complaints that are substantially similar to another complaint it has already considered in the past two years, unless there is a material change of circumstance, such as new evidence.