Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Public Interest Intervention Notice she issued on 5 October, if she will make an assessment of whether the time for the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate and report was adequate.

An open bidding process for TalkTalk resulted in no deal being reached. Following that process, BT agreed to buy the business out of administration. This was a commercial transaction in which the Government was not involved.

The Secretary of State issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN), to enable consideration of public interest issues alongside any competition concerns the CMA may raise in their Report. See the PIIN for further detail.

Given the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the process, it would not be appropriate to comment further while it is ongoing.