Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of legislation on second-hand lithium battery sales in reducing fires and explosions.

The Government is committed to ensuring there is an effective products safety system so that only safe products can be sold in the UK. We have some of the most robust product safety requirements in the world. Manufacturers and importers must ensure that products are safe before they are placed on the market. They must monitor the safety of their products in use and take action if a safety issue is identified. Enforcement authorities have powers to take measures against manufacturers, importers and distributors of unsafe goods.

Earlier this year, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Office for Product Safety and Standards commissioned Newcastle University to conduct research examining the safety of second life batteries used in domestic energy storage systems. The aim of this work is to understand best practice in the design and installation of domestic battery energy storage systems that use second life batteries and to provide policy makers a clear understanding of the safety risks to consumers and typical methods used by manufacturers to reduce these risks. The findings will be summarised in a final report published later this year.