Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the number of Trading Standards Officers in England and Wales.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Trading Standards Officers are employed by local authorities which are independent from central government. These authorities are responsible for determining their spending priorities and for the recruitment of Trading Standards Officers; they are accountable to their local electorate.
The Department provides funding to National Trading Standards (NTS) to enable local authorities in England and Wales to take coordinated action on consumer harm issues that cross local authority boundaries.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to measure the (a) quality and (b) quantity of work undertaken by Trading Standards Officers.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Resources for local trading standards services are determined by local authorities. Each local authority trading standards service publishes its own enforcement policy having regard to the principles set out in the Regulators’ Code. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage the quality and quantity of work undertaken by Trading Standards Officers.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department assesses the quality and quantity of work undertaken by Trading Standards Officers.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Resources for local trading standards services are determined by local authorities. Each local authority trading standards service publishes its own enforcement policy having regard to the principles set out in the Regulators’ Code. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage the quality and quantity of work undertaken by Trading Standards Officers.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to tackle maternity discrimination.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The law is absolutely clear that pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace is unlawful. Government is tackling pregnancy and maternity discrimination in several ways.
Firstly, Government is working to increase awareness of individuals’ rights and employers’ obligations. We have made steady progress.
- ACAS published updated guidance in November, so that women and employers understand their rights and obligations better. Government also continues to support the Equality & Human Rights Commission’s Working Forward campaign on pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
- The MAT B1 form (the form which enables a pregnant woman to claim Statutory Maternity Pay from her employer or Maternity Allowance from Jobcentre Plus) has recently been updated to include a link to advice and guidance on employment rights for pregnant women and new mothers.
- The Government’s response to the Taylor Review of modern working practices committed to update and consolidate the pregnancy and maternity discrimination pages on GOV.UK by summer 2018.
Secondly, the Government has committed to review the legislation relating to redundancy protection and consider whether this is sufficient. This review is underway.
Thirdly, in terms of monitoring and enforcement, Government continues to fund both the ACAS helpline and the Equality Advisory and Support Service, which provide free advice in this area. Government will also monitor others’ findings (such as the recent EHRC work poll on employer attitudes) for any signs that interventions are starting to have an impact or changes in employers’ practices.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to tackle maternity discrimination.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The law is absolutely clear that pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace is unlawful. Government is tackling pregnancy and maternity discrimination in several ways.
Firstly, Government is working to increase awareness of individuals’ rights and employers’ obligations. We have made steady progress.
- ACAS published updated guidance in November, so that women and employers understand their rights and obligations better. Government also continues to support the Equality & Human Rights Commission’s Working Forward campaign on pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
- The MAT B1 form (the form which enables a pregnant woman to claim Statutory Maternity Pay from her employer or Maternity Allowance from Jobcentre Plus) has recently been updated to include a link to advice and guidance on employment rights for pregnant women and new mothers.
- The Government’s response to the Taylor Review of modern working practices committed to update and consolidate the pregnancy and maternity discrimination pages on GOV.UK by summer 2018.
Secondly, the Government has committed to review the legislation relating to redundancy protection and consider whether this is sufficient. This review is underway.
Thirdly, in terms of monitoring and enforcement, Government continues to fund both the ACAS helpline and the Equality Advisory and Support Service, which provide free advice in this area. Government will also monitor others’ findings (such as the recent EHRC work poll on employer attitudes) for any signs that interventions are starting to have an impact or changes in employers’ practices.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what powers he plans the Office for Product Safety and Standards to have to compel companies to issue recalls.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Office for Product Safety and Standards, by virtue of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s powers, already has the power under Regulation 15 of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 to issue a recall notice where it is necessary to do so.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what regulatory powers the Office for Product Safety and Standards has.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Office for Product Safety and Standards currently has access to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s powers under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, including to require information for the purposes of deciding whether to issue a safety notice, to issue warning notices and to issue recall notices. The Government will be consulting in due course on options for further powers for the Office.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department plans to take to increase public awareness of the Government’s product recall website; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The website is currently being enhanced to make it clearer and easier to use, and the Government will work with a wide range of stakeholders to maximise awareness of the upgraded site.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to increase protection for the buyer in consumer-to-consumer private online sales of electrical goods.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Existing laws (such as the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Misrepresentation Act 1967) apply to consumer to consumer transactions, including the sale of electrical goods, but we want to make sure that this legal framework is right for the future.
That’s why the Government’s Consumer Green Paper launched on 11 April seeks views on whether the existing legal framework applicable to consumer-to-consumer transactions should be strengthened further. The consultation is open until 4 July 2018 and the feedback received will help determine next steps.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of prohibiting the sale of electrical goods online whose manufacture dates to before the introduction of the Plugs and Sockets Regulation 1994; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Second hand equipment supplied in the course of business to a consumer, including domestic electrical devices manufactured before 1994 and supplied online, are within scope of the Plugs and Sockets Regulations 1994. Any plugs attached to such electrical devices must comply with the Regulations including conforming to the relevant British Standard or providing an equivalent level of safety.