Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude, has announced that 192 quangos and public bodies will be scrapped and 118 merged. Of particular interest to commercial practitioners is the announcement that the OFT is to be merged with the Competition Commission following a consultation by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and, in particular, that the OFT's consumer protection powers will be devolved to local trading standards authorities. It remains to be seen whether trading standards authorities have the resources and expertise to challenge the behaviour of traders nationally or cross-border, or to produce guidance on new legislation.
