Reforming UK Competition Law

Just off to a conference, organised by the Oxford Centre for Competition and Regulatory Policy at City University, which contains, among other things, a round table on the reform of UK competition law. BIS produced its consultation paper back in April 2011, with a closing date in June. Government practice is supposed to be to respond to consultation within three months of the closing date. I suggested in a recent article that this might be a challenge and so it has proven. Here we are in January 2012 and no sign of a response. A delay at this end is likely to put back the timetable for any reforms and further delays might push it all back into an election year. Just to complicate matters, reform of the OFT is also tied into reform of the consumer landscape, so the two policies need coordination.