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 of potential retail shortages of household cleaning products over winter 2021-22; and what discussions he has had with suppliers and retailers on those potential shortages.

The Government recognises that as the global economy has rebounded from the pandemic, we have seen pressures placed on supply chains across sectors. We have taken quick and decisive action to ease these pressures where required including establishing a Supply Chain Advisory Group and Industry Taskforce, which provides a link between business and government to identify causes of supply chain issues and pre-empt future issues. Industry attendees are drawn from a range of sectors including the British Retail Consortium. Additionally, the Department engages at both Ministerial and official level on a range of issues affecting the retail sector including the availability of goods.

The causes of goods shortages can arise from a complex variety of reasons including stockpiling by consumers. Products generally remain in good supply. Retailers have highly resilient supply chains, as evidenced throughout the pandemic, and we have established ways of working with industry.