In a hard-hitting report on the future of the high street to be published next week, MPs will call for a series of measures designed to curb the power wielded by supermarkets, The Observer newspaper said, without citing sources.
Composed by the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group, it will call for the Office of Fair Trading to launch a Competition Commission investigation into the supermarket sector, the newspaper said.
The report’s authors call for an end to what they characterise as a number of unfair advantages that favour supermarkets over small businesses. These include the fact that supermarkets are able to offer free parking while consumers frequenting local stores have to pay to park on the street, and the advantageous business rates that supermarkets enjoy.
The report will add to the pressure that the regulator is currently under to launch an examination of the supermarket sector, The Observer added. The Competition Commission if currently considering the possibility of an investigation and will decide whether one is necessary by the summer.
