United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020

Review

44 Duty to review arrangements for carrying out Part 4 functions

(1) The Secretary of State must, within the permitted period—

(a) carry out a review of the appropriateness, for the purpose of securing the most effective and efficient performance of the Part 4 functions, of—

(i) the provision made by section 32(1) and the amendments made by Schedule 3, and

(ii) any arrangements made under or in connection with that provision and those amendments;

(b) prepare a report of the review (see subsection (4) for specific requirements relating to the report), and

(c) lay a copy of the report before Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

(2) The review must, among other things, assess—

(a) the way in which Part 4 functions have been carried out by the CMA through Office for the Internal Market task groups authorised under section 32(1), and

(b) any advantages or disadvantages of continuing with—

(i) the provision made by section 32 and the amendments made by Schedule 3, and

(ii) the arrangements made under or in connection with that provision or those amendments,

as compared with other possible ways of providing for the Part 4 functions to be carried out (including possible arrangements not involving the CMA).

(3) In carrying out the review the Secretary of State must consult the other relevant national authorities.

(4) Before finalising the report required by subsection (1)(b) the Secretary of State must—

(a) send a draft of the proposed report to each of the other relevant national authorities, inviting the authority to make representations as to the content of the proposed report within a period specified by the Secretary of State, and

(b) consider any representations duly made in response to that invitation and determine whether to alter the report in the light of that consideration.

(5) The Secretary of State need not consult the devolved authorities further if the draft is altered as mentioned in subsection (4)(b) (but is free to do so if the Secretary of State thinks fit).

(6) The permitted period for the review is the period beginning with the third anniversary of the day on which section 32 comes into force (or first comes into force to any extent) and ending with the fifth anniversary.

(7) In this section “Part 4 functions” means functions of the CMA under this Part.