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ARTICLE · 06 MAY 2026

Subsidy Control: Key Lessons From A Recent Competition Appeal Tribunal Decision

Shepherd and Wedderburn
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The UK's subsidy control regime faces its latest legal test as the Competition Appeal Tribunal examines whether a £70 million grant to National Lottery operators constitutes unlawful state aid. This case provides crucial insights into how courts interpret the 'economic advantage' test and what constitutes commercial market behavior under the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

United KingdomAntitrust/Competition Law
Jonathan Carey
Jonathan Carey
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The UK’s subsidy control regime aims to prevent public bodies giving financial assistance to private enterprises in a way that distorts usual competition. One example of this is when a public authority provides financial support to an enterprise that, under normal commercial circumstances, it would not be able to obtain. The key legislation is the Subsidy Control Act 2022, or SCA.

The SCA has been legally challenged a few times. The first of these was Durham County Council v The Durham Company Limited [2023] CAT 50, which we considered in a previous article. In that case, the Competition Appeal Tribunal found that there was no subsidy.

The most recent is The New Lottery Company Ltd and Others v The Gambling Commission and, again, the Tribunal reached the same decision. This has several useful lessons for both the givers and the receivers of such financial assistance.

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