Chair of the select committee Peter Luff MP says bid rigging won't be a major feature of inquiry into the construction industry

The ongoing DBERR select committee inquiry into the construction industry will not look into the OFT’s allegations of bid-rigging, it has emerged.

Peter Luff MP, the chair of the select committee, said that although the OFT’s allegations were “difficult to ignore”, they were unlikely to play a major part in the inquiry.

He said: “We didn’t take any evidence on the OFT investigation, so it won’t be a major feature of the report. However, it is difficult to ignore, so we may well mention that it has happened.”

Luff added that any analysis of the OFT’s investigation would be a matter for the department itself, rather than the select committee that reports on it.

The DBERR select committee interviewed trade bodies, client organisations and union representatives in the Autumn as part of its inquiry into the industry. Luff said the committee’s report was in the process of being written, and it was expecting to publish it early in June.

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