Description: This book examines the implications for public law of the regulation of privatised utilities, asking how these institutions fit into our constitutional understandings regarding accountability, individual rights and territorial government. It argues that we need to find new ways of thinking about these issues in order to accommodate the regulatory system within our constitutional understandings and to accommodate constitutional understandings within the regulatory system, especially given recent constitutional reforms and the influence of Europe. After describing the institutions, their powers and duties, particular attention is paid to the position of consumers, the role of the European Community, territorial government and the place of individual rights. The book ends by looking at price control, the coming of competitive markets for utility services and the future of the regulatory system in the light of convergence, multi-utilities and the government's planned reforms.

Please Wait