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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Connection and Use of System Code panel, and its modification and voting process, on (1) competition, and (2) consumer costs.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), as part of its investigation into the energy market, considered the governance of energy industry codes, which included the Connection and Use of System Code (CUSC) panel. They found that current arrangements for code governance had an adverse effect on competition. The complexity of codes can act as a barrier to new entrants and the implementation of pro-competitive change can be difficult. The CMA made a number of recommendations to Government and to Ofgem to address these issues; the Government is considering these recommendations and will respond in due course.