CMA issues call for competition reform

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching a 10 year review of the concurrency arrangements, which set out how the CMA and the eight sector regulators – including Ofgem, Ofcom, and Ofwat – work together to enforce competition law and promote competition in the regulated sectors so that UK consumers can enjoy more competitive outcomes, such as lower prices and more choice in services they rely on.

In 2014, reforms were introduced to enhance the concurrency arrangements and strengthen cooperation between the CMA and sector regulators on their shared competition powers. Ten years on, the review is an opportunity to assess the impact of concurrency on the work of the regulators and competition in the UK.

Together the regulated sectors form a major part of the UK economy. For consumers, services such as energy, water and communications are essential and take up a large part of household budgets. At a time where many are facing rising living costs, competition is an important tool to help keep prices down and promote innovation and growth.

The CMA is calling for views and feedback on the impact and effectiveness of the concurrency arrangements from as diverse a range of perspectives as possible. The CMA wants to hear views on how the arrangements have helped the effectiveness of sector regulators, their impact on the effectiveness of the UK’s competition regime and any improvements which could be made to the arrangements.