Friday 02 July 2021 8:14 am | Updated: Friday 02 July 2021 12:30 pm

Former competition chief urges government to speed up CMA overhaul

"The government has been distracted by Covid and Brexit, but they need to act now" - Tyrie

The former chairman of the UK’s competition watchdog has called on the government to speed up an overhaul of the organisation.

Lord Andrew Tyrie, who chaired the Competition and Markets Authority from 2018 to 2020, warned that the organisation’s effectiveness will be eroded unless it is urgently reformed, in a report published today.

Speaking to City PM, Lord Tyrie said: “The government now needs to act. More people feel ripped off year by year.”

“The government has been talking about publishing a green or white paper for a long time. They need to get on with it, and once they’ve done so, they need to legislate quickly.”

“This never gets to the top of the agenda. Understandably, the government has been distracted by Covid and Brexit, but they need to act now” he added.

The report – titled The Competition and Markets Authority: a reboot for the 2020s, published by the Centre for Policy Studies and the Policy Institute at King’s College London – shows two fifths of companies have never even heard of the CMA, while two thirds do not know that it enforces competition law in the UK.

It outlines several policy recommendations to improve the CMA, including creating an online form that consumers can file to alert the CMA to rip-offs in products and services.

Lord Tyrie – also a former Chair of the Treasury Select Committee – suggested that publishing regular progress reports on the CMA’s work and the state of UK markets to monitor its performance would make it more accountable.

More comprehensive collection and analysis of data on the health of competition in the economy would also improve the organisation’s effectiveness, Tyrie recommended.

Two fifths of companies have never even heard of the CMA (Source: GOV UK)

“The fact that so many businesses either haven’t heard of the CMA, or don’t understand what it does, is a very concerning state of affairs and cannot be allowed to persist” he said.

“It urgently needs a stronger public voice, as without it, the CMA’s ability to deter anti-competitive behaviour will be sharply reduced. Again, it is the consumer – millions of us – who lose out.”

Consumer protections have been eroded

The strength of competition and consumer protection policy has been weakened by the growing power of online platforms, Lord Tyrie warned.

He also revealed that decisions on which cases to investigate have been delegated to a small group of senior executives, rather than being taken directly by the CMA’s Board.

This practice has resulted in the organisation processing cases which have little relevance to ordinary consumers.

Tyrie said: “What’s needed has been pretty clear for a long time. With swift implementation, these reforms can transform the CMA and enable it to serve as a beacon for other parts of the regulated sector.”

The CMA said it was “committed to delivering for consumers across the UK.”

“We have always been clear that there is more we could do with stronger and more flexible powers and have submitted proposals to this effect to the government” a spokesperson said.