Latest in the funeral directors market investigation
First published by Author on January 02, 2020 in the following categories: Industry Investigations and tagged with cma | competition law | funerals market | investigations
The funeral directors market investigation that’s being conducted by the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) remains ongoing.
In terms of the latest happenings and goings on, here’s a brief update based on information from the CMA about the progress of their important work in this sector.
It goes without saying that this is another important investigation for the competition regulator. People are in obvious need of funeral and crematorium services, and the need for such services will likely increase with population growth.
An important investigation
We have said before why the CMA’s funeral directors market investigation is such an important one. The need for such services isn’t likely to go away, so it’s one that they must ensure the playing field is level for.
Any breaches of competition law could be serious and could cost people a lot of money. Anything that could mean competition is stifled by way of a lack of competition could mean higher prices for people, as well as lack of proper choice.
As such, it’s one that we’re keeping a very close eye on indeed.
What has happened so far?
The CMA has already issued a number of updates relating to their funeral directors market investigation so far.
It has been going on since July 2018 and may well continue on for some time given the size and scale of the market. There has already been a large volume of responses following the launch of their initial study. An interim study was issued at the end of last year where the CMA raised serious concerns following their initial probes.
Since then, responses have been received following the issuance of the interim report that raised serious concerns. Earlier this year, advice was issued in conjunction with Age UK and the Money Advice Service when the final report was issued.
The CMA decided that the study needed to be moved into a Phase 2 Market Investigation. Working papers and a number of replies from companies took place over summer this year.
The latest updates
Last month, the CMA made information about hearings and roundtable summaries online. The administrative timetable for the funeral directors market investigation was also updated.
They also published a document for comment about the approach to valuing land where crematoria are sited. Deadlines for responses to this document were 18th December just gone.
You can find out more about the summaries on the CMA’s website here.