Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether it is in the public interest that EU-mandated safety standards held by the British Standards Institution may not be accessed without payment; and what consideration is being given to making those standards freely available.

Businesses are required to comply with the relevant legislation rather than standards. Standards support safety regulation through providing one means of demonstrating conformity to the essential safety requirements set out in legislation.

The use of standards is voluntary and they are developed outside the regulatory system according to a system of stakeholder involvement. The British Standards Institution, as the UK’s National Standards Body, has responsibility for developing and maintaining standards, and supports its work through selling standards. This ensures that those who use standards pay for them. There are no plans to change this.

In some instances, national regulators pay for their enforcement authorities to have access to standards. For example, the Office for Product Safety and Standards pays BSI to give access for local trading standards departments to relevant safety standards.