VerbatimParliament, as it happens

Digital Service Providers: Competition

Asked by Julia LopezConservativeDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled Answered 20 March 2026UIN 119997

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to public sector bodies of limited competition in the UK cloud infrastructure market.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan

In July last year, the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) cloud market investigation identified a number of potential competition concerns with clear negative impacts for UK businesses, consumers and the public sector.

The CMA recommended that its Board consider prioritising a future Strategic Market Status (SMS) investigation into cloud services under its new digital markets powers. The CMA is independent of Government, and decisions on which markets to investigate are a matter for its Board alone.

Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →

Open this question in Verbatim →

Every written question, searchable

155,000 questions tabled since the election, with the answer each department gave — and the ones still unanswered, with the clock running. Free to search.

Search written questions →Read on Verbatim