Market investigations are powerful tools that can bring in major changes to make markets work better for consumers and businesses.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) committed, in its Annual Plan, to review the way it conducts them. It took account of experience since they were introduced in the Enterprise Act 2002, and in particular of the CMA’s major investigations into energy and banking, as well as legislative changes that came into force in 2014, reducing their time limit from 2 years to 18 months.

The CMA is proposing the following changes to streamline its existing processes and ensure it meets the shorter statutory timescale:

• Increasing interaction with stakeholders at an early stage in the investigation, including holding formal hearings sooner in the process.
• Assessing potential remedies to improve the market at an earlier stage in the investigation.
• Reducing the number of formal publication and consultation stages – removing the Updated Issues Statement, and combining provisional findings and provisional remedies into a single Provisional Decision Report.
• Allowing market studies (a shorter look at the market which can precede market investigations) to carry out preparatory work when they are likely to lead to a full investigation.
• Introducing the option for the CMA board to give an advisory steer on the scope of the market investigation, which is run by an independent group of CMA panel members.

The CMA considers that these proposed changes will enable it to carry out its market investigations more quickly, without reducing their effectiveness. It also believes they will preserve a fair and robust process and independence of decision-making throughout, which is central to the regime. And it thinks that earlier discussion of possible remedies to any competition problems uncovered should ensure a fuller discussion with all parties involved, ensuring the most effective remedies possible.

The document outlining the proposed changes and the resulting changes in the CMA’s published guidance, is available on the consultation page.

Interested parties are encouraged to respond to the consultation, which will run until 2 May 2017. Responses should be submitted by email to marketinvestigations-review@cma.gsi.gov.uk or by post to:

Today [March 6] we are going to be having a discussion about the continued role of the EU in defence and security and clearly this is something that the UK supports. We are always going to be part of Europe’s wider security architecture provided, of course, that it does not undermine NATO. NATO is the cornerstone of our Atlantic alliance and of our defence.

We’ll be having discussions about Ukraine and what we can collectively do to shore up Ukraine in view of the various threats that it faces. I’ll be briefing the Council along with my Polish colleague – Witold Waszczykowski – about our recent trip to Kiev and what we were able to discuss with President Poroshenko and Foreign Minister Klimkin about the struggles that they face, and the threats that they face, particularly in Eastern Ukraine.

We’ll also have a discussion with Sameh Shoukry – the Egyptian Foreign Minister – and we’ll be talking again about what we in Europe can do to shore up Egypt as it makes its important progress towards democracy and greater reform.

Barbara
Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Social Care and Mental Health, commenting on the
prosecution in relation to neglect at Mossley Manor Care Home in Liverpool, said:

“The neglect and poor care of the
residents at this care home is shocking. With the CQC saying that there was ‘a
continued and serious risk’ to the lives, health and wellbeing of residents, it
is welcome that the owners have been prosecuted.”

“There
are wider questions for the Government on just how this level of neglectful
care was allowed to develop unchecked. The Government must ensure our care
system does not allow standards to fall to the level found at this care home,
leaving residents exposed to harm and neglect.”

The following summary of planned new and ongoing road improvements over the coming week is correct as of 06 March but could be subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. All our improvement work is carried out with the aim of causing as little disruption as possible.

M1 junction 28 to 35a, Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire/Yorkshire: smart motorway

Until winter 2017, there will be various restrictions in place on the M1 between junctions 28 and 35a to allow for the construction of the smart motorway. These include lane closures, speed restrictions, hard shoulder running and overnight slip road or carriageway closures.

On Monday 6 March, the exit slip road at junction 28 will be closed overnight from 8pm to 6am, the southbound entry and exit slip road at Tibshelf services, the northbound exit slip road at junction 29a, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Tuesday 7 March, the southbound entry and exit slip road at Tibshelf services, the southbound entry slip road at junction 28, the entry slip road at junction 29a, the M1 southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Wednesday 8 March, the northbound entry and exit slip road at Tibshelf services, the southbound exit slip road at junction 29, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Thursday 9 March, the southbound exit and entry slip road at junction 29, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Friday 10 March, the northbound exit slip road will be closed at junction 29, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Saturday 11 March, the southbound entry slip road will be closed at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road will be closed at junction 32 overnight.

On Sunday 12 March, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 will be closed and the southbound exit slip road will be closed at junction 32 overnight.

M1 junction 19 to 16, Northamptonshire: smart motorway

On Monday 6 March, the southbound carriageway will have two lanes closed between junction 18 and 16. The northbound carriageway will also have two lanes closed between junction 18 and 16 from 9pm to 6am.

On Tuesday 7 March, there will be a full northbound carriageway closure between junction 16 and 18, the northbound entry slip road at junction 16, the northbound entry and exit slip road at Watford Gap Services and the northbound exit slip road at junction 18 will all be closed overnight.

On Wednesday 8 March, the northbound carriageway will be closed between junction 16 and junction 18, the northbound entry slip road at junction 16, entry and exit slip road at Watford Gap Services and the northbound exit slip road will all be closed overnight. There will also be two lanes closed on the southbound carriageway overnight.

On Thursday 9 March, northbound carriageway will be closed between junction 16 and 18, the entry slip road at junction 16, the northbound entry and exit slip road at Watford Gap services and the northbound exit slip road at junction 18 overnight.

On Friday 10 March, there will be two lanes closed between junction 18 to junction 16 on both the northbound and southbound carriageway overnight.

On Saturday 11 March, the northbound carriageway will be closed between junction 18 and junction 19 and the entry slip road at junction 18 overnight.

On Sunday 12 March, there will be a full carriageway closure between junction 18 to 19 and the northbound entry slip road at junction 18 will all be closed overnight.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

“Theresa
May must use her first Budget as Prime Minister to provide the NHS and social
care sector with the funding desperately needed to provide the very best
quality of care. That’s the test on the NHS that her budget must meet this
week.

“Theresa
May used to make a virtue of her rows with the police and said she had no
sympathy with those managing her budget cuts but she can’t take the same
unsympathetic, derisive approach to NHS funding. The test of her first Budget
this week therefore is whether she will signal a different approach to the NHS.

“At
the very least the Government should bring forward £2 billion of emergency
funding for social care and make clear as soon as possible how this money is
going to be used to increase capacity and take some of the pressure off NHS
hospitals, so that patients and their families never have to go through a
winter like this again.”