Unappointable’ candidates should be ruled out from re-applying to become next Chair of Ofcom

• Letter from the Chair to Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
• Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee

The re-running of the recruitment process to appoint a new Chair of the communications regulator is being challenged because its campaign information fails to state that candidates previously deemed unappointable should not re-apply – viewed as an industry standard when a campaign is being re-run.

The DCMS Committee has urged the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to include this message in the recruitment documentation for potential applicants.

Chair's comment

DCMS Committee Chair Julian Knight MP said:

“The DCMS Committee has once again had to raise important concerns around the appointments process for the new Chair of Ofcom. The recruitment process is being re-run despite the absence of any adequate explanation being provided by government on the need to do so.

“Where a previous candidate has been deemed to be unappointable for a post, they should be ruled out of re-applying. However, this crucial line is missing from the campaign information to recruit Ofcom’s next Chair. It would be extremely alarming if this was a deliberate omission rather than an oversight and we are seeking clarification.”

Further information

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