To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to support small businesses through changes to competition law.

Through the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and the establishment of the Competition and Markets Authority, we have ensured that businesses of all sizes, including small businesses, benefit from a simpler competition regime designed to provide greater certainty and improve the speed of decisions.

In addition, when our reforms of private actions for competition damages and the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) rules come into force on 1 October they will assist small businesses who currently find it too costly to seek compensation for breaches of competition law. These include a cost-capped ‘fast track’ procedure to enable small businesses to challenge anti-competitive behaviour, and voluntary redress schemes to encourage faster, easier access to redress.