Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing free electrical safety checks for vulnerable older people.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government has recently announced that it will introduce new requirements for landlords to conduct electrical safety checks in the private rented sector to help ensure the safety of all their tenants, including older people. In the Social Housing Green Paper we are consulting on whether new safety measures in the private rented sector should also apply to social housing, as well as whether there are any changes needed to the definition of what constitutes a Decent Home.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on mandatory electrical safety checks in the private rented sector in England.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We are committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to live in a home that is safe and decent. The Department recently held a public consultation on the introduction of mandatory electrical safety checks in the private rented sector. We expect to announce our next steps shortly.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy on reducing the number of electrical fires in the home caused by faulty white goods.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office has collaborated with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to support and promote the Register My Appliance initiative, run by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances. This is designed to improve product recall rates and ensure a greater number of faulty products can be traced and either repaired or removed from homes.
Home Office officials will continue to work closely with product safety officials, following the creation of the Office of Product Safety and Standards, to explore what else can be done to support their work around faulty white goods.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with the National Fire Chiefs Council on reducing fires in the home with an electrical source of ignition.
Answered by Nick Hurd
As a standing member of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Home Safety Committee, Home Office officials routinely discuss electrical safety issues with the NFCC to ensure opportunities to drive down electrical fires and promote electrical safety are utilised.
The Department has facilitated close links between the NFCC, product safety officials at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the sector-led Register My Appliance initiative to encourage fire and rescue services to increase the focus on electrical and product safety within their engagement with members of the public.
The Home Office’s national fire safety campaign, run in partnership with the NFCC, collaborates with Electrical Safety First to run the annual Electrical Fire Safety Week. The Week is used by fire and rescue services and others to promote electrical fire safety messages.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many seizures of counterfeit electrical goods have been seized in each port in Scotland in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This data could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
The Government views the problem of counterfeit electrical goods extremely seriously and the inherent dangers to public safety. Border Force are focused on detecting the smuggling of these items into UK ports across the country.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the potential correlation between periods of high electricity usage and electrical fires in the home.
Answered by Margot James
Consumer safety is a priority for the Department and we are taking steps to further improve the safety of white goods and the recalls system. The Department is in regular contact with the Home Office on a range of issues related to fire safety.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of free electrical appliance tests in tower blocks in England; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
The UK has one of the highest sets of product safety requirements in the EU, which requires goods to meet strict safety rules before they are put into use.
I have asked the Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety to consider the merits of making safety check on white goods used in tower blocks and will liaise with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Home Office over their recommendations.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with fire and rescue services on preventing and reducing the number of electrical fires in domestic dwellings.
Answered by Nick Hurd
My department has regular discussions with the National Fire Chiefs Council and individual fire and rescue services on their preventative work.
We have invested in the Fire Kills campaign and Electrical Safety Week, run in close partnership with fire and rescue authorities in England, which promotes a range of domestic safety messages including on electrical fire safety, to ensure householders take appropriate action to prevent accidental fires and understand how best they can protect themselves and their families.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Compass asylum accommodation contract, how many unsafe incidents in terms of fire damage and electrical damage that may lead to fire damage under parts B.2.1.6 and B.2.1.8 of the Schedule 2 statement of requirements there were in each region covered by that contract in 2016-17.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Asylum accommodation providers are held to the highest standards, including in relation to fire safety. A number of inspections are carried out each year, and where defects are identified we notify the provider and expect these to be fixed within contractual timescales. No issues in relation to fire safety were reported in the years specified under the performance management regime.
However, to provide the specific information requested would require a manual trawl through all inspection and incident reports, which would breach the disproportionate cost threshold.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with stakeholders on introducing a national strategy to reduce electrical fires.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Home Office officials work closely with a range of stakeholders and other partners to put in place mitigation measures to reduce the incidence and impact of electrical fires. This includes includes the Department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy, who lead on product safety issues; Electrical Safety First, a charity dedicated to reducing accidents involving electrical appliances; the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances (AMDEA); and local fire and rescue authorities.