Supermarket Ombudsman must have real bite - Fred Mackintosh

10.18.00am GMT Fri 15th Jan 2010

Commenting on the announcement from the UK Government that they have accepted the Competition Commission's recommendation to establish an independent body as a 'supermarket ombudsman', Fred Mackintosh, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Edinburgh South said: "This announcement is as welcome as it is overdue.

"Liberal Democrats in Edinburgh have been calling for the establishment of a genuinely independent Ombudsman for some time. The crisis in the Scottish dairy sector is just one example of why an Ombudsman with real authority is needed to help police the relationships throughout the grocery supply chain.

"I wonder how many farm businesses have gone to the wall the Lothians in the time that Labour Ministers have been dithering on this issue. Without an effective ombudsman supermarkets will be able to use their dominant position and market power to suppress farm gate prices and damage local food suppliers. Consumers want to see fairness in the way their food is produced and without an Ombudsman that is going to be hard to achieve.

"Having now accepted the need for an Ombudsman the Government must now act without further delay to set up the office and appoint an Ombudsman with the powers, resources and people to do its job properly."

Speaking in November 2009 Scottish Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Jim Hume MSP wrote to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to demand the establishment of a Supermarket Ombudsman. At the time Jim Hume said, "The Competition Commission and the EU Commission are very clear in their views that an Ombudsman would significantly increase fairness in the food supply chain, taking the inequity out of it for producers.

"There have been voluntary agreements in the past which have been aimed at creating a fair pricing system, but sadly it has not worked. The industry therefore needs an independent Ombudsman to oversee retailer-producer relationships."