Competition and Consumer Protection Law Reforming Competition and Consumer policy - public consultation
The Government set out its plans for reforming competition and consumer policy in detail in its public consultation which ran from July to October 2021.16 The consultation covered proposals relating to promoting competition, updating consumer rights and strengthening the enforcement of consumer law.
	In April 2022, the Government published its response to the consultation.17 The key policy positions established were to:
Introduce a rebalanced merger control system, stronger enforcement against anti-competitive conduct and a series of enhancements to the CMA’s investigative and enforcement powers.
Introduce new penalty powers for the civil courts for consumer law breaches and out-of-court (administrative) powers for the CMA to determine and sanction breaches of certain consumer laws.
Prevent the restriction of consumer choice in relation to subscription contracts.
Strengthen the quality of alternative dispute resolution arrangements.
Protect consumer payments to Christmas saving clubs and other similar saving schemes.
	The Government set out plans for further consumer reforms in a public consultation: 'Smarter Regulation: Consultation on Improving Price Transparency and Product Information for Consumers’ which ran from September to October 2023. 18 In January 2024, the Government published a response setting out its intention to legislate to tackle drip pricing and fake reviews, and to extend powers to take down harmful digital content to all public enforcers of consumer law. 19