Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October to Question 36200 on chemicals regulation, for what reason HSE is proposing holding a public consultation in addition to the one held in summer 2025; and what recent progress HSE has made on delivering the Government’s commitment to introduce secondary legislation to amend GB CLP to introduce new EU hazard classifications by June 2027.

The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Chemicals Legislative Reform consultation held in 2025 sought initial views on how best to apply a consistent classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) regime across the United Kingdom (UK), which was in support of the Government’s commitment to safeguard the UK internal market. It did not seek views on any detailed policy proposals to deliver the commitment.

Following this, HSE undertook an industry survey in Spring 2026 to gather evidence on the potential costs and impacts to business on aligning with the European Union (EU) CLP measures. Analysis of the survey results is ongoing and a narrowly focused public consultation, subject to ministerial agreement, would provide an opportunity for HSE to gauge views on proposals, to refine the costs, and strengthen its understanding of the benefits in order to deliver secondary legislation in 2027.