Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the detention of (a) unsafe and (b) non-compliant electrical consumer goods at ports and borders in Scotland; and whether he has plans to allocate additional funding for those activities.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards will publish its first Strategic Assessment covering trends in relation to the safety of goods in due course and this will inform future decisions about how best to support capacity on the front line, including in Scotland.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the volume of (a) unsafe and (b) non-compliant electrical consumer goods entering Scotland at its ports and borders.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing the first national Strategic Assessment to identify trends and risks associated with the supply and use of consumer goods. This will provide a comprehensive analysis of how well the product safety system functions and will support local authorities and other agencies to prioritise their operational decisions and interventions based on evidence and risk. In addition, the OPSS is working to support local authorities in Scotland to further improve product safety.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is made available by the Office for Product Safety and Standards to the Scottish Government to improve safety at ports and borders in scotland.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards is working to support local authorities in Scotland including at ports and borders, to further improve product safety. For example, OPSS has provided free technical training on product safety to local authority officers, provided all front-line officers with free access to British Standards on line and training on risk assessment will take place in March. We are exploring what additional support and resource would assist with safety at ports and borders.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made on the cost to the Scottish economy of the sale of (a) counterfeit and (b) substandard electrical products.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government does not hold data for estimating the cost to the Scottish economy of counterfeit or substandard electrical products.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions (a) he, (b) ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with the representatives of the Scottish Government on the sale of unsafe electrical goods online; and whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the regulation of the sale of those products online.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department has had discussions with the Scottish Government on a number of issues related to the safety of consumers, including on the Office for Product Safety and Standards’ (OPSS) new strategy for product safety. OPSS also works closely with local authority Trading Standards services across Scotland on specific issues, including the safety of electrical goods.
All electrical goods must meet essential safety requirements before they can be placed on the UK market, including electrical goods sold to consumers by online retailers. The Government has no plans to introduce further regulation in this area.