The UK government is considering plans to scrap the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) and merge its functions with the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA).
This comes as a YouGov survey in June found relations between retailers and suppliers were worsening for the first time under the adjudicator, because of the wave of cost price increase requests from suppliers.
Current adjudicator Mark White, who took over the role last year, now oversees 14 of the UK’s leading food retailers, with Amazon the most recent name to be added to the list in March this year.
READ MORE: GCA warns of unfair retail practices amid inflation
A consultation launched by small business minister, Jane Hunt, this week said ministers were looking at whether they could make efficiency savings by doing away with the role, which was established in 2013.
Announcing the review was Jane Hunt, who said: “In light of the need to ensure efficiency of public bodies, we would like to consider those questions again in the current review.
“The government has not made any decisions about a possible transfer but would be particularly interested in whether there might be gains in efficiency and effectiveness in transferring the GCA functions to the CMA.”
The move comes despite the GCA being funded by a levy imposed on retailers under his jurisdiction, all of whom have turnover of more than £1 billion a year.
It is not the first time the government has considered ditching the adjudicator, with a similar review in 2016 finding no evidence it would increase the effectiveness of public functions or accountability to ministers.
Founder of The Retail Mind, Ged Futter, said: “It’s utter madness to consider scrapping the GCA and just shows the government hasn’t a clue.
“Cutting costs from the GCA’s office is not going to save a penny for a single customer in any part of their life. All it does is put it at risk because we know what it was like before the adjudicator came round.
“It was the wild west out there. If the government wants to return to the wild west, then scrapping the adjucator is the way to do it.”
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