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OFT publishes criteria for competition casework

146/06    12 October 2006

The OFT has today published the criteria it will be using to prioritise competition cases in the future.

Download the Competition prioritisation framework (pdf 71 kb).

These criteria are used by the OFT to assess which cases should be taken up for investigation and in cases where investigations have begun, whether they should be continued. They will give those wishing to refer a competition issue to the OFT a clear indication of how the office decides whether to proceed with complaints. They will allow the OFT to concentrate its finite resources on high impact cases.

The publication of refocused criteria forms part of the OFT's continued commitment to a more targeted and transparent approach to casework. The criteria will now be developed further to apply across the whole range of the work carried out by the OFT, including consumer cases, and market studies. This is in line with National Audit Office recommendations that the OFT publish more information on the way it selects cases for investigation.

John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive said:

'The OFT recently announced changes to the way we operate which will allow us to focus on high impact projects and to look more systematically at whole markets and issues. We aim to use all the tools available to us to improve markets where they are not operating effectively. Our objective is to make the OFT more efficient and to concentrate our effort on clear strategic goals. Today's announcement is another step in this process.'

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