Competition authorities
Whilst the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills sets the overall policy framework for competition, it is regulated by the UK’s independent competition authorities.
There are four main competition bodies that are responsible for investigating and enforcing decisions on competition matters in the UK market:
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is the principal competition authority whose responsibility is to enforce competition and make markets work well for the benefit of consumers. The OFT derives most of its powers from the Enterprise Act 2002 and the Competition Act 1998. The OFT investigates anti competitive practices in markets, mergers and enforces consumer law.
The Competition Commission (CC) conducts in-depth inquiries into mergers, markets and the regulation of certain industries such as utilities and communications. However, the CC only undertakes its inquiries where they have been referred to it by the OFT, one of the sectoral regulators or in exceptional circumstances the Secretary of State.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) is a specialist judicial body whose function is to hear and rule on appeals of decisions made by the competition authorities. The CAT has a cross-disciplinary expertise in law, economics, business, competition and economic regulatory issues.
The European Commission (Directorate General for Competition) has exclusive powers to act on certain large mergers with a European dimension. It also has powers to investigate anti-competitive practices when trade between members of the European Community, or in some cases the European Economic Area (EEA), is affected.
Latest News
Candidate for post of interim Chairman of the Competition Commission announced
Mr. Roger Witcomb, currently a Deputy Chairman of the Competition Commission, has been selected as the preferred candidate to become the interim Chairman of the Commission. An interim Chairman is being appointed as the Government is consulting on the proposal to merge the Commission with the competition functions of the OFT.
The term of office of the present Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Peter Freeman, ends in May 2011.
Mr Witcomb was identified following a selection process validated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
The Business Innovation and Skills Secretary, Vince Cable, has now invited the Business Innovation and Skills Select Committee to hold a pre-appointment hearing and to report on Mr Witcomb’s suitability for this post. This is in line with proposals announced last year to increase democratic scrutiny of key public appointments.
The government’s proposals for pre-appointment hearings are set out in the Governance of Britain White Paper.
Sectoral Regulators
A number of Sectoral Regulators (utility regulators and others) have a specific role to play in promoting or facilitating competition within their sectors.
Some of these regulators also have the power to apply the Competition Act 1998 concurrently with the OFT. These regulators with such 'concurrent powers' are:
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Ofgem - in the energy markets
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Ofwat - in the water industry
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Ofcom - in the communications sector
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ORR - for railway services
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CAA - in relation to air traffic services
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Utility Regulator - for gas and electricity in Northern Ireland
BIS and HM Treasury jointly take the lead in formulating economic regulation policy and ensuring the regulatory framework is fit for purpose.
Concurrent Powers (Competition Act 1998)
A number of sectoral regulators have powers to apply the Competition Act concurrently with the OFT. These regulators have all the powers of the OFT to investigate and enforce decisions to deal with anti-competitive practices in their designated sector.
