To cover activity by more businesses, the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA ) has expanded its active investigation into suspected bid-rigging on school roofing contracts.
The regulator announced yesterday ( 29 January ) in a speech that additional events are then included in its investigation.
The. originally focused on roofing and other construction-related contracts funded by the Department for Education’s ( DfE’s ) Condition Improvement Fund ( CIF), to investigate whether businesses had violated the Competition Act of 1998, was refocused on the Department of Education’s ( DfE’s ) Condition Improvement Fund ( CIF ).
But, the CMA believes that suspected anti-competitive behavior extended beyond schools that were available for CIF money in light of the evidence that has been reviewed to time.
Building News is aware that the CMA is now concerned that identical do may have affected construction deals that are funded by different public and private sector entities, not just the DfE.
To address problem issues in entitled schools, academies, and sixth-form colleges, the DfE provided about £470 million in CIF funding for the 2025/26 fiscal year.
The regulator claimed to have already conducted “unannounced checks” at a number of business premises when it announced the investigation would begin in December 2024.
It claimed that there was “reasonable suspicion” that roof and construction companies had worked together to obtain requests for DfE-funded projects.
A speech of concerns will be issued if the CMA definitively determines that the businesses have broken competitors law. Firms will have the opportunity to listen.
The Competition Act was broken, the CMA claimed in its most recent release, but it did not assume “at this point” at this point.
Tⱨe CMA did ȵot reach a decision regarding ωhether any of ƫhe functions under investigation haⱱe sufficient grounds ƫo submit a declaration oƒ concerns.
No additional infoɾmation about the situation σr the businesses under iȵvestigation is availaƀle, according ƫo a CMA director.
