According to the government the Better Markets Bill will “help deliver the manifesto commitment to increase competition and consumer choice in the energy market” by enabling faster switching between companies and giving consumers more protection when things go wrong.
It will introduce measures to speed up decisions by the Competition and Markets Authority and give it “more powers to take on anti-competitive behaviour”. The government said it will also “act quickly” to enact the final recommendations of the CMA due to be published in June.
The bill will further aim to reduce the burden of regulation on businesses by cutting red tape and “simplifying the way economic regulators operate”.
The CMA laid out it provisional remedies in March, receiving a mixed reaction from industry. Speaking at Utility Week Live yesterday the boss of Ofgem Dermot Nolan warned utilities to get on board with the CMA’s proposals or face full price regulation.
The Queen’s speech also saw the announcement of the Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which will contain provisions to make the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) statutory and independent.
Chair of the NIC Lord Adonis said: “I strongly welcome the government’s announcement that it will make the National Infrastructure Commission statutory and independent. This is a major advance for infrastructure planning in Britain and will give the commission the power it needs to do its work.”
In February the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called for the NIC to be given “strong teeth” to enable it to sucessfully deliver energy and water infrastructure.