A Guide to Challenging UK Subsidies

Introduction

This webinar will explore the essential features of the subsidy control regime in the UK, with a focus on bringing and defending challenges to subsidy grants.

Following the enactment of the Subsidy Control Act 2022, the UK’s framework for subsides introduces a unique intersection of competition law principles and public law. As a result, subsidy challenges must navigate economic assessments and the judicial review standard applied by the courts.

This webinar will provide you with the information you need to understand what is involved in making the kinds of assessments required under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and how these might be challenged in the courts (Competition Appeal Tribunal). It will also cover the role of the Subsidy Advice Unit within the Competition and Markets Authority.

The key cases decided to date will be explored, which have focussed on the question of whether an action by an allocation of funds by a public authority amounts to a 'subsidy' under the Subsidy Control Act 2022. It will also provide practical advice based on examples from experience on how to mitigate the risks that subsidy grants are overturned and what to look for when seeking to challenge subsidy grants.

This webinar is ideal for competition and public lawyers advising authorities and businesses and advisers seeking to deepen their understanding of the UK’s post-Brexit subsidy control landscape.

What You Will Learn

This session will equip you with the knowledge to:

• Understand the scope and key elements of the Subsidy Control Act 2022
• Best practice for making subsidy grant decisions by public bodies
• The standards applied by the Competition Appeal Tribunal in challenges to subsidy grants
• Ultimately how to mitigate the risks of a negative outcome, whether as an awarding body, a subsidy recipient or someone negatively impacted by the award of a subsidy

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Friday 27th February 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 1,900+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.