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Written question asked by Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Conservative) on Monday, 23 March 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 8 April 2026. It was answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 April 2026 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.


Digital Service Providers: Licensing

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of enterprise software licensing practices on competition and customer choice in the UK cloud services market.

Answer

The Government prioritised the commencement of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) new powers in digital markets last year to boost competition and fairness in the digital tech sector. Although the CMA operates independently of Government, the Government gave a clear steer for the CMA to use these new powers collaboratively and proportionately.

In March, the CMA announced a package of actions to strengthen competition in business software and cloud services. This includes a Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft’s business software under the UK’s digital markets regime, alongside voluntary actions from Amazon and Microsoft that will improve interoperability, reduce data egress fees and make switching easier in cloud services.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL15879
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Software Competition Licensing Digital service providers
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk