Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding the remit of the Competition and Markets Authority to ensure that Critical National Infrastructure is protected by a public interest test.

Under the Enterprise Act 2002, decisions on public interest interventions are matters for Ministers. Public interest interventions can be made in cases that raise concerns in relation to national security, which includes critical national infrastructure. As part of the National Security and Infrastructure Investment Review, the Government is consulting on strengthening Ministers’ powers to intervene in cases that raise national security concerns.