London, January 21, 2026 —The UK Competition and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on its draft Annual Plan for 2026 to 2027, marking the first detailed implementation plan under the CMA’s new Strategy for 2026 to 2029.
The CMA said the draft Annual Plan is designed to promote competition and protect consumers, with an overall aim of supporting economic growth and improving household prosperity. The authority said this approach aligns with the government’s Strategic Steer, which it described as providing transparency on policy priorities while acknowledging the CMA’s statutory independence.
The CMA said the Annual Plan priorities reflect five core objectives in its new strategy, combining continuity and change. These include maintaining a strong role as an independent enforcer, championing consumers, expanding its role as an enabler of competition through advice and recommendations to government, strengthening business confidence and investment in the UK regulatory environment, and delivering tangible results.
The CMA said it will continue focusing on its “4Ps” framework — pace, predictability, proportionality, and process — as part of efforts to reduce burdens on business and improve investor confidence.
CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said the strategy aims to “put money back in people’s pockets” amid cost-of-living pressures while increasing the CMA’s role in supporting the government’s growth mission. CMA Chair Doug Gurr said the authority will continue embedding the 4Ps across the organisation and remain transparent and open to feedback.
Under the draft Annual Plan, the CMA said its consumer protection work will prioritise trust and confidence, including progressing its first investigations into price transparency and misleading online choice architecture. It also said it will take a strategic approach to implementing the new consumer regime, focusing on essential spending areas and egregious conduct where the law is clear, while encouraging behavioural change through advisory letters and broader engagement. The CMA also plans to launch a new Consumer Forum to ensure consumer perspectives remain central.
In markets work, the CMA said it will act in consumer-facing sectors, including implementing veterinary services remedies and completing its civil engineering market study, while also supporting the government’s Industrial Strategy. It said private dentistry work is also expected.
The CMA said it will also step up advocacy efforts by driving uptake of its recommendations, identifying anti-competitive regulation that may hinder growth, and advising on policies that help UK firms scale. It said it will increase work on public procurement, including tackling illegal bid-rigging and producing insights through its Microeconomics Unit.
On competition enforcement, the CMA said it will continue targeting anticompetitive conduct that blocks innovative firms from entering and scaling, with a particular focus on public procurement and improved detection tools such as AI and data analytics to scan for bid-rigging. It also said it will seek to deter algorithmic price collusion.
In digital markets, the CMA said it will progress work on Search and Mobile. In Search, it said it will focus on greater choice and control, including choice screens and publisher controls. In Mobile, it said it will aim to increase competition and certainty for app developers and ensure access to functionality needed to innovate and compete, including for digital wallet providers.
On mergers, the CMA said it will continue making timely and robust decisions, building on KPIs to speed up pre-notification and Phase I reviews and applying merger control in a targeted way. It also said it will implement new remedies guidance, review its approach to efficiencies, and engage with the government on Phase II decision-making reforms.
The CMA said it is inviting responses to the consultation until February 18, 2026, with the final Annual Plan expected to be published in March 2026.
