Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary for State of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the cost to the public purse was of all departmental and non-departmental public body spending on (a) consumer protection, (b) product safety and (c) consumer enforcement from 2010 to 2019.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
This Government is committed to ensuring consumers know and can exercise their rights and that there is an effective system to enforce them when things go wrong. Protecting public safety is a priority for this government and stringent legislation is in place which requires manufacturers to place only safe products on the market. The Office for Product Safety and Standards was set up in January 2018 to provide leadership on product safety issues.
Year £M) | Consumer [i]Advice | Consumer Advocacy[ii] | Enforcement[iii] | Product Safety |
2010-11 | 1.4 | 4.9 | 7.8 | N/A |
2011-12 | 8.5 | 3.9 | 8.7 | |
2012-13 | 15.8 | 2.7 | 4.7 | |
2013-14 | 10.8 | 3.7 | 14.8 | |
2014-15 | 10.4 | 4.2 | 14.9 | |
2015-16 | 11.0 | 4.2 | 14.7 | |
2016-17 | 10.6 | 3.7 | 14.4 | 0.67 |
2017-18 | 9.7 | 3.6 | 14.3 | 1.15 |
2018-19 | 9.5 | 3.6 | 14.2 | 8.46 |
It has not been possible within the timeframe to identify robust information on BEIS expenditure on product safety prior to 2016-17.
[i] Telephone and online advice for consumers on general consumer issues. Increase in 2012-13 includes £5m in transition costs moving the service from Consumer Direct to the Citizens Advice consumer service.
[ii] Provision of general consumer advocacy only
[iii] 2010-11 and 2011-12 represents BEIS funding for specific enforcement projects such as Scambusters, Illegal Money Lending, Ports and Borders prior to the establishment of National Trading Standards and Trading Standards Scotland in April 2012 to deliver national and cross-border enforcement.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the cost to the public purse has been of all departmental and non-departmental public body spending on (a) consumer protection, (b) product safety and (c) consumer enforcement to prepare for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
BEIS has allocated a total of £4.7m to Citizens Advice (including proportionate provision for Citizens Advice Scotland) to review and update advice provided across the advice spectrum, including consumer, to assist with EU exit. We have also allocated £0.4m to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to update advice for businesses on consumer rights and training for Trading Standards Officers.
On product safety, BEIS has spent a total of £3.1m in 2017/18 and 2018/19 to enable the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) to prepare for EU exit.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding was allocated to the Office for Product Safety and Standards; and how many staff were employed in that organisation in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
This information can be derived from the BEIS Main and Supplementary Supply Estimates and the BEIS Annual Report and Accounts which are publicly available at the following:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-main-estimates
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018
The OPSS was formed in January 2018 and its funding up to 31 March 2018 is not separately identifiable.