Section 79 of the Subsidy Control Act 2022 allows the Secretary of State to issue guidance on various matters arising under the Act, including on the definition of subsidy, and the practical application of the exemptions and of the subsidy control principles. Public authorities must have regard to such guidance (section 79(6)).
BEIS has now published draft guidance and a consultation paper (the questions in which amount to little more than an invitation to comment generally on the draft).
The draft guidance runs to 192 pages, so providing detailed comment on it by 10 August (the closing date) is going to be quite hard. However, I hope to arrange a response through the Joint Working Party of UK Bars and Law Societies on Competition Law – and anyone who has any thoughts they would like to pass on should feel free to send them to me (gperetz@monckton.com). If anyone has thoughts they would like to share with a wider audience, do comment on this post – or even write a stand-alone post!
George Peretz QC