Treasury Heavyweight Leads Race For Ofcom Job

A top civil servant is in line to become the next head of the communications regulator Ofcom, Sky News can exclusively reveal.

Sharon White, the Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, is understood to have been recommended to the Culture Secretary Sajid Javid as Ofcom’s new chief executive, according to sources in Whitehall.

Ms White's appointment has not yet been ratified by Mr Javid and could yet fall through, resulting in another candidate being selected, they said.

If it is approved, however, she could be officially confirmed in the role as early as next week.

The next chief executive of Ofcom will assume responsibility for a bulging in-tray just months before the General Election next May.

Among the companies which Ofcom is responsible for regulating is Sky plc, the owner of Sky News.

Earlier this week, the regulator angered Royal Mail by rejecting its claims that opening the end-to-end delivery market to competitors was jeopardising the viability of the Universal Service Obligation, which requires the company to deliver to every UK address for the price of a stamp.

It is also engaged in an inquiry relating to the sale of Premier League broadcasting rights, and is drawing up plans for a review to launch before Christmas of public service broadcasting in the UK.

Ofcom has one of the widest regulatory remits in Britain, overseeing the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, and the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.

Ms White, who would become the first woman to head Ofcom, has spent 25 years as a civil servant, initially at the Treasury during the 1990s, before stints in Washington and at the Number Ten policy unit.

Regarded as "a star performer" by many of her Whitehall colleagues, she has also worked at the World Bank at the Department for Work and Pensions and Ministry of Justice.

She rejoined the Treasury in 2011 to lead a review of the department’s response to the financial crisis, and now has responsibility for the public finances.

Ms White, who has been in her current role for just over a year, is also part of one of Britain’s most influential couples: her husband is Robert Chote, chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility, which scrutinises the Government’s spending plans.

Ofcom's current chief executive, Ed Richards, will step down at the end of this month, having run the organisation for just over eight years. He has been on its board since March 2003.

Announcing his intention to step down in October, Mr Richards said:

"It has been a privilege to lead Ofcom during such an exciting and dynamic period in the evolution of the UK's communications sector.

"It is never easy leaving a job that you enjoy greatly but I have always felt that once I had completed eight years as chief executive this would be the right time to move on."

Patricia Hodgson, the chairman, said Mr Richards would leave "an impressive legacy", adding:

"Under his leadership, Ofcom has helped to deliver superfast broadband, 4G, lower prices, innovation, competition, and sustainable public service broadcasting in the UK.”

The search for Ofcom's new chief executive has been led by The Zygos Partnership, a search firm.

Ofcom declined to comment on Friday.