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Alcoholic Drinks: Sales

Volume 486: debated on Thursday 15 January 2009

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent discussions he has had with pubcos on their policy in providing discounts on beer sold to (a) traditional pubs and (b) supermarkets. (247159)

[holding answer 14 January 2009]: I have not met with Pubcos to discuss their pricing policies. This is a commercial matter for the businesses concerned. Ensuring that markets operate freely and fairly is a matter for the independent competition authorities, rather than for Government. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has the powers to investigate and take action if companies are abusing a dominant position in a market or behaving anti-competitively, including referral to the Competition Commission.