Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was (1) the basis, and (2) the supporting evidence, for the proposal contained in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s 2016 consultation on the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations to continue to include children’s mattresses in the scope of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, in the light of the EU ban on the use of brominated and organophosphate chemicals in children’s mattresses.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government has been reviewing the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. The 2016 consultation on updating the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations sought views on proposals for clarifying and amending the scope of the regulations. The Department will publish its response to the 2016 consultation in due course.
Chemicals, including brominated and organophosphate flame retardants used in UK furniture, are regulated under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). REACH aims to provide a high level of protection for health and the environment from the use of chemicals including those used in products.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 21 May (HL15638), what steps they are taking to clarify which of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 or the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 should take precedence in circumstances where either might apply, such as in (1) domestic and communal spaces in care homes, or (2) an office room based in a domestic dwelling.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 apply to upholstered furniture which is ordinarily intended for private use in a dwelling.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) is primarily for businesses and other non-domestic premises including communal areas of multi-occupied residential premises – where the communal areas are effectively workplaces and not primarily domestic premises. For care homes where the main use is the provision of residential care, the FSO applies to the entire premises as they are a workplace. It does not apply to people’s private homes.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 21 May (HL15637), how much of the allocation for 2018–19 has been spent on product compliance testing; how many tests were conducted; and what were the results.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Office for Product Safety and Standards allocated £500k in 2018/19 for local authority trading standards to fund the testing of products that were manufactured or imported into their local authority area.
Test reports are currently being collated and the data analysed to establish the total numbers of samples tested, the product safety legislation that has been tested to and the level of non-compliance. The results of this analysis are expected in the summer and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Office for Product Safety and Standards has spent on testing for compliance using the match test under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 since its formation; how many fabrics have failed the test; and how many have passed.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Office for Product Safety and Standards allocated £500k in 2018/19 for local authority trading standards to fund the testing of products that were manufactured or imported into their local authority area.
Test reports are currently being collated and the data analysed to establish the total numbers of samples tested, the product safety legislation that has been tested to and the level of non-compliance. The results of this analysis are expected in the summer and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 22 May (HL15636), which scientific evidence from external sources including academic papers and studies they are taking into account; what are the dates of meetings that have taken place to discuss the progress of the review; and whether they have met (1) Professor Richard Hull of the University of Central Lancashire, or (2) Bob Birtles of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, in relation to the review.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 are being reviewed to ensure they reflect changed fire safety risks, innovation, manufacturing processes and environmental and health concerns of chemical flame retardants whilst maintaining product safety protections.
The Department will publish its response to the 2016 consultation in due course. This will take into account of the responses received, the views of experts from across government including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Public Health England, the Food Standards Agency and the Fire Services, as well as a range of evidence from external sources such as academic papers.
Ministers have not had meetings with Professor Richard Hull or Bob Birtles. Details of ministerial meetings with external bodies are published on the Gov.uk website.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 22 May (HL15639), what is the basis for their assertion that the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 ensure the “highest levels of fire safety”; and what assessment they have made of the findings of the (1) 2014 and 2016 consultations on reforming the law, and (2) Flame retardants in UK furniture increase smoke toxicity more than they reduce the fire growth rate, published in the Chemosphere in April 2018.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 are being reviewed to ensure they reflect changed fire safety risks, innovation, manufacturing processes and environmental and health concerns of chemical flame retardants whilst maintaining product safety protections.
The Department will publish its response to the 2016 consultation in due course. This will take into account of the responses received, the views of experts from across government including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Public Health England, the Food Standards Agency and the Fire Services, as well as a range of evidence from external sources such as academic papers.
Ministers have not had meetings with Professor Richard Hull or Bob Birtles. Details of ministerial meetings with external bodies are published on the Gov.uk website.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 11 September 2018 (HL10265), whether the volumes of DecaBDE in existing upholstered furniture have been established; and what procedures are in place to safely dispose of such furniture.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government does not hold information on the volumes of DecaBDE in existing upholstered furniture. The Government is working with stakeholders and experts to assess the best routes for disposal of waste containing DecaBDE to protect the environment and human health.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what processes are in place to safeguard children with chronic fatigue syndrome and other disorders whose parents have enrolled them on Lightning Process courses; and what evaluation has been undertaken of the (1) benefits, and (2) harms, to those children who have participated in such courses.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Lightning Process (LP) is not offered as a part of the chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) standard treatments on the National Health Service. Subject to the nature of the safeguarding concerns, issues should be directed to the relevant professional regulator, should the practitioner be a member of a registered profession; the local authority (trading standards office or children’s service), if false claims are being made about the effectiveness of the treatment or welfare of a child is a concern; or the police, if a crime is involved.
The LP involves a course of three half-days of training aiming to teach participants how to use their brain to improve their body's health.
A randomised controlled trial with 100 adolescents aged 12-18 was undertaken by researchers in Bristol. Participants were randomised into two groups: those who received standard CFS/ME treatment and those who received the standard treatment plus the LP.
Researchers found those who received the LP had better physical function, were less tired and less anxious after six months. At 12 months, they had further improvement in physical function, and improved depression scores and school attendance. This research trial had several limitations as set out in the peer reviewed journal article. This was a very small trial and so it would need to be repeated in a much larger group to demonstrate more generalisable findings. Participants were not blinded so their self-reported outcomes might have been biased, for example participants may have been more likely to report positive outcomes because they knew they were getting additional therapy in the LP group. Of all those eligible to participate in the trial, fewer than 30% agreed to take part. Participants in the trial did not have any serious adverse events attributable to either LP or usual care. LP therapy was given in addition to the usual CFS/ME care as a no-treatment control group was not deemed ethical, therefore it cannot be suggested as a replacement for current specialised medical care.
Independent ethical review ensures that participant safety is at the centre of all research. In the United Kingdom, review by an ethics committee is one of a series of safeguards intended to protect the people taking part in the research. The operating procedure for trials in the UK has inbuilt safeguards designed to protect patients from harm in the event an intervention is ineffective or potentially harmful. Participants are free to withdraw from a study at any time.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 20 May (HL15634), whether DecaBDE is the same chemical as DecaPBDE; and whether production and use of DecaPBDE continues in the UK.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) is a group of chemicals consisting of brominated hydrocarbons, of which decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) is one. When the term DecaPBDE is used in literature it usually refers to DecaBDE.
The UK ceased production of DecaBDE in 1996 and its use has declined sharply since then. It has been banned under the UN Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants since December 2018 and this will be reflected in the revision to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 on Persistent Organic Pollutants and also under the European chemical regulation regime, REACH, since March 2019.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prosecutions were made by Trading Standards for offences under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 between 2014 and 2019; and how many of these prosecutions resulted in a conviction.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Ministry of Justice has published data for prosecutions and convictions up to the end of December 2018. Data for 2019 will be published in May 2020.
The number of prosecutions and convictions for offences under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 between 2014 and 2018 are shown in the table below.
Table: Prosecutions and convictions under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988, 2014–18 | ||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |||||
Prosecuted | 4 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 2 |
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Convicted | 3 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
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