Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the Competition and Markets Authority delivers the outcomes recommended in the cloud services market investigation.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is an independent competition authority, and decisions on implementing the recommendations from the cloud services market investigation rest with its Board. The Government has provided the CMA with bespoke powers to remedy competition problems in digital markets.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks of over-reliance on dominant cloud services providers, as identified in the Competition and Markets Authority's cloud services market investigation; and what steps they are taking to mitigate those risks.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has not carried out an assessment of the risks of over-reliance on dominant cloud service providers in the market. The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) cloud services market investigation examined the state of competition in the market. The CMA is independent of Government and any decisions on initiating strategic market status investigations are for the CMA Board.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the recommendations of the cloud services market investigation, published on 5 October 2023, what steps they are taking to ensure the initiation of strategic market status investigations for Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In July 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its final report on the UK cloud market. The key recommendation was for the CMA Board to prioritise commencing investigations under the digital markets regime and to consider designating the two largest providers —Microsoft and AWS — with strategic market status in relation to cloud services. The CMA is independent of Government and any decisions on initiating strategic market status investigations are for the CMA Board.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Competition and Markets Authority accelerates the Digital Markets Unit's strategic market status designation for cloud services.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has indicated in its provisional Cloud Services report that it will recommend to its Board prioritising Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigations into Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. Decisions on which SMS investigations to launch are for the CMA, as the UK's independent competition authority. The Government will consider any additional recommendations made by the CMA in its final report, which is not expected until Summer 2025.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to address restrictive software licensing practices by dominant cloud providers, as identified by the Competition and Markets Authority, to ensure fair competition in the cloud services market.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has indicated in its provisional Cloud Services report that it will recommend to its Board prioritising Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigations into Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. Decisions on which SMS investigations to launch are for the CMA, as the UK's independent competition authority. The Government will consider any additional recommendations made by the CMA in its final report, which is not expected until Summer 2025.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government why discussions have been held with major online marketplaces on how to tackle unsafe products, such as toys, being sold via third-party sellers in the UK.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Ministers in this Department held a roundtable meeting with a number of online marketplaces on 24th April, demanding they take more action to keep unsafe products off their platforms. In addition, through the Office for Product Safety and Standards, government speaks regularly and directly to online marketplaces to tackle the availability of non-compliant products sold online, requiring recalls and takedowns and, where necessary, taking enforcement action to prevent unsafe products from being made available to UK consumers.
Additionally, the Government will shortly publish a consultation on the Product Safety Review which makes proposals for a more agile approach to deal with the changing world of commerce including online sales.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to widen the powers of the Office of Product Safety and Standards so it can issue legally binding obligations for online marketplaces to monitor the safety of products offered for sale on their websites.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Existing product safety legislation places obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors to ensure that consumer products are safe before they are placed on the UK market, including products sold online. This legislation also provides the necessary powers to hold manufacturers, importers and distributors to account in exercising their responsibilities.
The government’s Product Safety Review is considering concerns about the sale of unsafe products online, and a consultation, including proposals to examine existing enforcement powers, is being finalised for publication.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Office of Product Safety and Standards's powers to take enforcement action against online marketplaces on behalf of consumers.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Existing product safety legislation places obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors to ensure that consumer products are safe before they are placed on the UK market, including products sold online. This legislation also provides the necessary powers to hold manufacturers, importers and distributors to account in exercising their responsibilities.
The government’s Product Safety Review is considering concerns about the sale of unsafe products online, and a consultation, including proposals to examine existing enforcement powers, is being finalised for publication.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made (1) of the UK's ability to govern the safety of toys entering the UK marketplace, and (2) the upholding of UK consumer protections, during trade agreement negotiations.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The UK’s product safety regulatory framework, as regulated by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, provides a high level of protection to consumers. Any trade negotiations seek to achieve growth in the economy while also ensuring the safety of UK consumers.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Office for Product Safety and Standards will publish its Product Safety Review.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The Product Safety Review consultation is currently being finalised and will be published shortly.