Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, since its creation, how many whistleblowers the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has compensated; how much in aggregate has been paid in compensation; and what reimbursement has the CMA received from the Treasury for compensation payments made.

The CMA’s informant reward programme is an important tool in uncovering cartel activity. Payments have been made under the informant rewards programme.

The CMA does not provide figures about the levels or numbers of such payments. Given the number of CMA cases, divulging even aggregated payment figures could over time risk allowing the identification of cases having a whistleblower. This could put whistleblowers at risk and undermine the programme as a whole.

Informant reward payments are directly covered by the CMA’s budget.