The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is recommending making Ofwat’s price control decisions subject to appeals, rather than a redetermination process, and that the appeal process should be managed by a judicial body.
The recommendation was made in the CMA’s response to the Independent Water Commission’s call for evidence, in relation to the water sector in England and Wales.
In its response the CMA said:
“We recommend that government consider reform to deliver:
(a) A consistent appeal process: We recommend reform to drive consistency in regulatory appeals. Some decisions by sector regulators are subject to appeals, whereas others – including price controls in water – are subject to a ‘redetermination’ process. In a ‘redetermination’, the appellate body reconsiders the evidence and reaches its own conclusions on the decision taken by the sector regulator.
“We recommend that regulators’ decisions should be subject to appeals, not redeterminations. A consistent appeal standard would deliver better outcomes than the patchwork of different procedures which has developed over time.
“(b) Judicially managed appeals: We recommend transferring the function of hearing regulatory appeals from the CMA to an appropriately resourced judicial body. The overall set of issues which are raised through an appeal process are better suited for resolution by a judicial body.”
The CMA’s full response to the Independent Water Commission can be found here.
