Category Archives: Regulators

UK’s private dentistry market faces review after price jumps of more than 23%

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CMA says it wants to ensure market ‘working well for consumers’ as more Britons forced to seek private care

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched a review into the £8bn private dentistry market after the price of a consultation increased by nearly 25% over a two-year period.

One in five people in Great Britain sought private dental care in 2024 in part because they could not access NHS treatment. Announcing its investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it wanted to make sure the market was “working well for UK consumers”.

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Ministers must end ‘barking mad’ restraints on civil service pay, union leader warns

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Exclusive: Prospect boss Mike Clancy cites problems retaining technical and digital experts

Ministers must end “barking mad” restraints on civil service pay or risk being unable to recruit the technical and digital specialists it needs to keep pace, a union leader has warned.

Mike Clancy, the Prospect general secretary, said the government should end the “rightwing trope” that restrained the pay of highly skilled civil servants and left government unable to compete with the private sector. He said it should be realistic for senior specialists in competitive fields to be paid more than the prime minister.

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Manchester-London 7am ‘ghost train’ to carry passengers after outcry over regulator’s decision

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Avanti service was to have been axed from mid-December but would have still run because of needs out of Euston

The express Manchester-London 7am Avanti service will take passengers after all, after the rail regulator conceded defeat in the face of public outcry over a ruling that would have left it running as an empty “ghost train” each day.

The 7am train, the only service linking the cities in under two hours, was set to be axed from the passenger table from mid-December – but would, as the Guardian reported on Saturday, have kept running empty from Piccadilly each day so it could run morning trains back out of Euston.

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UK accused of caving-in to British Virgin Islands over access to companies register

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Parliamentary group urges government to clamp down on overseas territories before flagship anti-corruption summit

The UK government has been accused of caving-in to pressure from the British Virgin Islands by allowing it to limit access to a register of company share ownership to only those deemed to have a legitimate interest.

The restriction, to be discussed at talks starting on Tuesday between Foreign Office ministers and leaders of the British overseas territories (BOTs) in London, is in defiance of legislation passed by the UK government as long ago as 2008 that would make the register available to all.

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Nandy breached code over appointment of donor to lead football regulator

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Culture secretary ‘deeply regrets error’ after inquiry finds failures in declaring past donations by watchdog nominee

Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has apologised to Keir Starmer after an inquiry found she failed to say that her choice of nominee to lead a new football regulator had donated to her and to Labour before she nominated him for the role.

Nandy said she regretted the errors highlighted in a report by William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments. Her apology comes a week after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, made her own written apology to the prime minister for failing to obtain a licence before renting out her family home.

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Ofwat letting water firms charge twice to tackle sewage, court to hear

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River Action bringing legal action against water regulator over who should foot bill for firms’ past failures to invest

Ofwat is unlawfully allowing water companies to charge customers twice to fund more than £100bn of investment to reduce sewage pollution, campaigners will allege in court on Tuesday.

Lawyers for River Action say the bill increases being allowed by Ofwat – which amount to an average of £123 a year per household – mean customers will be paying again for improvements to achieve environmental compliance that should have been funded from their previous bills.

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Vets could be made to publish prices after UK watchdog investigation

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Market ‘not fit’ for purpose and must be modernised, CMA says, with pet owners paying 16.6% more at large groups

Vets in the UK could be forced to publish their prices and whether they are part of a larger group after an investigation by the markets watchdog into claims that chain-owned surgeries have left pet owners with dwindling choice and higher bills.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found pet owners pay 16.6% more on average at large vet groups than at independent vets. It said the £6.3bn market was “not fit” for purpose and needed to be modernised.

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Post-ministerial jobs watchdog closes as part of UK government ethics shake-up

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Exclusive: Acoba’s functions split between two regulators and new Ethics and Integrity Commission to oversee others

The much-criticised watchdog that scrutinises the jobs UK ministers can take after leaving office will be formally scrapped on Monday as part of a wider shake-up of the ethics structure in government.

The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), described by critics as fundamentally toothless, has been closed, a Cabinet Office announcement said, with its functions taken over by two existing regulators.

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Millions of households face jump in water bills after regulator backs more price rises

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Competition watchdog agrees requests from Anglian, Northumbrian, Southern, Wessex and South East to raise household bills

Water bills for millions of households in England will increase by even more than expected after the competition regulator gave the green light for five water suppliers to raise charges to customers – but rejected most of the companies’ demands.

An independent group of experts appointed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally decided to allow the companies to collectively charge customers an extra £556m over the next five years, it said on Thursday. That was only 21% of the £2.7bn that the firms had requested.

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Richard Desmond legal action over National Lottery award to begin at high court

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Billionaire suing Gambling Commission for up to £1.3bn over licence award, with payout potentially funded by the taxpayer

The media billionaire Richard Desmond will begin a bitter courtroom battle with the Gambling Commission this week that could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds in a row over the licence to run the National Lottery.

Northern & Shell and The New Lottery Company (TNLC), owned by Desmond, are suing the gambling regulator for up to £1.3bn, alleging “manifest errors” in the labyrinthine competition process for Britain’s largest public sector contract, the lottery licence.

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UK advertising watchdog accused of breaking rules in its own ad campaign

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Complaint lodged asks ASA to investigate claims made in promotion launched in conjunction with household brands

The UK advertising watchdog has received a complaint about its own high-profile UK-wide campaign, accusing it of breaking the rules it enforces around misleading marketing.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which investigates whether ads breach UK regulations, is being asked to investigate claims made in its campaign launched in conjunction with household brands including Tesco, Comparethemarket and Lloyds bank.

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Kingsmill owner to buy Hovis in £75m deal to create UK’s biggest bread brand

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Jobs expected to go if competition watchdog approves takeover by Associated British Foods

The owner of Kingsmill has agreed to buy its rival Hovis in a deal worth an estimated £75m that could create the UK’s biggest bread brand if the competition regulator approves it, but also put jobs at risk.

The deal comes after decades of decline in the popularity of the packaged sliced loaf, with Hovis, owned by the private equity company Endless, and its rival Kingsmill – part of Associated British Foods (ABF) – struggling to get out of the red for some years.

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Bidding battle for NHS landlord Assura intensifies as watchdog steps up investigation

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US suitor KKR lobbies board to accept offer to take Assura private as CMA looks into £1.79bn offer by rival UK investor

The bidding battle for the NHS landlord Assura has heated up after its US suitor KKR lobbied the board to accept its offer, while the competition watchdog stepped up its investigation of Assura’s £1.7bn takeover by a rival UK healthcare investor.

Primary Health Properties (PHP), which invests in buildings housing GP practices, has been blocked from fully integrating Assura by the Competition and Markets Authority while it looks into the takeover.

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Millions in line for payouts from £18bn car loan compensation scheme

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City regulator says motorists should start to get payments in 2026 with ‘most payouts likely to be under £950’

Millions of drivers could be handed a share of a multibillion-pound compensation package after the City regulator said it would open a redress scheme for consumers affected by the car finance scandal.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will consult on the redress scheme, which could cost banks between £9bn and £18bn when it begins paying consumers compensation next year.

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UK Online Safety Act risks ‘seriously infringing’ free speech, says X

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Elon Musk’s social media platform says lawmakers made a ‘conscientious decision’ to increase censorship

Elon Musk’s X platform has said the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) is at risk of “seriously infringing” free speech as a row deepens over measures for protecting children from harmful content.

The social media company said the act’s “laudable” intentions were being overshadowed by its aggressive implementation by the communications watchdog, Ofcom.

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Bank of England governor blocks Rachel Reeves’s Revolut meeting

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Concerns about chancellor’s involvement in independent process over fintech’s banking licence

The governor of the Bank of England blocked a meeting that Rachel Reeves tried to secure with watchdogs and Revolut, amid concerns the chancellor was meddling in an independent process over the fintech’s UK banking licence.

Andrew Bailey intervened after learning of the plan to bring together representatives from Revolut, the Treasury and the Bank’s regulatory arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority, to discuss the fintech’s ambitions to become a fully authorised UK bank.

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Doge reportedly using AI tool to create ‘delete list’ of federal regulations

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‘Department of government efficiency’ is proposing to use tool to cut 50% of federal regulations by January

The “department of government efficiency” (Doge) is using artificial intelligence to create a “delete list” of federal regulations, according to a report, proposing to use the tool to cut 50% of regulations by the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

The “Doge AI Deregulation Decision Tool” will analyze 200,000 government regulations, according to internal documents obtained by the Washington Post, and select those which it deems to be no longer required by law.

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Eurostar calls for ‘credible’ Channel rail strategy as monopoly decision looms

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Operator says if rivals are allowed to squeeze into existing facilities it could jeopardise its investment

Eurostar has urged the UK government to choose a “credible long-term strategy” for international rail or risk “falling behind” the rest of Europe, before a crucial decision by the regulator that could end its cross-Channel monopoly.

The high-speed train operator warned that a “premature” ruling from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to allow competitors to squeeze trains into existing facilities could jeopardise its planned investment and expansion.

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Ofwat to be abolished in ‘reset’ of water industry regulation

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Environment secretary backs plan to end sewage spills and financial mismanagement in England and Wales

A new water regulator will replace the powers of Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Environment Agency to “reset” a sector tarnished by scandals over sewage spills and financial mismanagement, after a major review of the sector.

The government will adopt the recommendation for England and Wales made in the review it commissioned from Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, which was released on Monday. In England, the powers of Natural England will also be subsumed.

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New ‘buy now, pay later’ affordability checks may cover even smallest loans

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City watchdog publishes details of its plans to regulate the BNPL market, which has now grown to £13bn

Lenders may have to carry out affordability checks on even the smallest buy now, pay later loans under new rules drawn up by the City watchdog.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)on Friday published details of its plan to regulate the £13bn buy now, pay later (BNPL) market.

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