| | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 21 September 2021 |
| Type | a part of a non-ministerial department |
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | The Cabot, 25 Cabot Square, London, E14 4QZ |
| Agency executives |
|
| Parent agency | Competition and Markets Authority |
| Key document | |
| Website | Office for the Internal Market (gov.uk) |
The Office for the Internal Market (OIM) is that part of the Competition and Markets Authority (a non-ministerial department) responsible for overseeing the UK internal market. Its objective is to monitor the UK internal market by reporting every year and at least every 5 years on the functioning of the internal market to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and devolved parliaments, [1] [2] [3] and to conduct reviews and provide economic analysis of the impact of regulatory differences across the four nations of the UK. [4]
Any of the four governments around the UK can submit a request from the OIM to examine a regulation, and businesses can bring any issues they might have regarding the UK internal market to the OIM through its webform. [5]
On 17 December 2020, the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 received royal assent. Part 4 of the Act sets out arrangements for the creation the Office of the Internal Market within the Competition and Markets Authority. [6]
On 22 March 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority appointed Rachel Merelie as the Senior Director for the OIM. [7] On 21 September 2021, the Office for the Internal Market officially opened and began operating as the advisory body for the UK internal market. [8]
The Office for the Internal Market Panel is the governance body for the OIM. [9] This panel consists of 8 members, including the panel chair. [10]
On 11 April 2022 Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng appointed Murdoch MacLennan as the first chair of the panel. [11]
On 20 December 2023, the rest of the Office for the Internal Market Panel was appointed:
| Name | Report Date | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Overview of the UK Internal Market Report | 22 March 2022 | [15] |
| OIM Annual Report on the Operation of the Internal_Market 2022-23 | 21 March 2023 | |
| OIM Periodic Report 2023 | 21 March 2023 |
On 8 August 2022 the UK Government asked the Office for the market to examine how a ban of peat in England would affect the UK internal market [16]