Written Statements

Tuesday 15th May 2018 Written Statements

Tuesday 15 May 2018

Consumer Policy

Tuesday 15th May 2018 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Andrew Griffiths)]

I am today publishing the Department’s investigation into the safety of the Hotpoint fridge freezer model FF175B which police identified as being involved in the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June last year.

The safety of consumers is a key priority for this Government, which is why the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), my right hon. Friend the right hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) ordered an immediate examination of the appliance by independent technical experts. Within days the Department had undertaken a preliminary assessment and issued advice following a meeting convened by the Government’s chief scientific adviser including public health advisers. The advice to owners of the model concerned—Hotpoint FF175B—was that they could continue to use their fridge freezer as the public health risk of advising not to use the appliance was judged to be of greater risk. Owners were advised to contact the manufacturer to register their appliance so they could be contacted directly should any further action be necessary.

At the same time the Department began a thorough and comprehensive product safety investigation into the model to identify whether there was any wider safety risk to the public. BEIS experts conducted a product safety investigation, examining the Grenfell Tower appliance, commissioning independent examination and testing of example FF175B appliances, undertaking analysis of data and documents and risk assessment. Whirlpool has co-operated with the investigation and has undertaken its own investigation in line with its legal obligations as the manufacturer of the product.

The full investigation has now concluded. It confirmed the advice that was given to consumers in June, that there is no need for a product recall or for any other corrective action for this model, and that consumers can continue using the product as normal. The investigation concluded that the product met legal safety requirements and that the risk associated with the model is assessed as low. The findings have been confirmed by separate and independent tests, under the supervision of the BEIS chief scientific advisor, carried out by scientific and technical experts including the Health and Safety Executive and Intertek.

We have shared the results of our investigation with the Metropolitan police, the Grenfell inquiry, and, of course, with the Grenfell residents through appropriate channels.

The Government continue to place huge importance on consumer safety. This is why, on January 21, 2018, we accepted all the recommendations made by the Working Group on Product Recall and Safety to upgrade the UK system of product safety, and we established the Office for Product Safety and Standards.

A copy of the risk statement and technical reports relating to the investigation have been published and copies of the documents have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS684]

Counter-Terrorist Asset-Freezing Regime

Tuesday 15th May 2018 Written Statements

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)]

Under the Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010 (TAFA 2010), the Treasury is required to prepare a quarterly report regarding its exercise of the powers conferred on it by part 1 of TAFA 2010. This written statement satisfies that requirement for the periods of 1 July 2017 to 30 September 2017 and 1 October 2017 to 31 December 2017.

This report also covers the UK’s implementation of the UN’s ISIL (Daesh) and al-Qaeda asset-freezing regime (ISIL-AQ), and the operation of the EU’s asset-freezing regime under EU regulation (EC) 2580/2001 concerning external terrorist threats to the EU (also referred to as the CP 931 regime).

Under the ISIL-AQ asset-freezing regime, the UN has responsibility for designations and the Treasury, through its Office of Financial Sanctions implementation (OFSI), has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under the ISIL (Daesh) and al-Qaeda (asset-freezing) regulations 2011.

Under EU regulation 2580/2001, the EU has responsibility for designations and OFSI has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under part 1 of TAFA 2010.

A new EU asset-freezing regime under EU regulation (2016/1686) was implemented on 22 September 2016. This permits the EU to make autonomous al-Qaeda and ISIL (Daesh) listings. Once a designation is made under this regime it will appear in the annexed tables.

The annexed tables set out the key asset-freezing activity in the UK during each quarter.

The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill currently before Parliament will help ensure that UK counterterrorist sanctions powers remain a useful tool for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to consider utilising, while also meeting the UK’s international obligations.

Under the Bill, a designation could be made where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person or group is or has been involved in a defined terrorist activity and that designation is appropriate. This approach is in line with the UK’s current approach under UN and EU sanctions and would be balanced by procedural protections such as the ability of designated persons to challenge the Government in court.

Attachments can be viewed at:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-05-15/HCWS685.

[HCWS685]

UK-EU Security Partnership

Tuesday 15th May 2018 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Mr David Davis)]

On 9 May, we published the framework for the discussions with the EU on the UK and EU’s future security partnership. These slides have been produced by the UK negotiating team for discussion with the EU, in order to inform the development of the future framework. This framework will set out the terms of our future relationship and will be concluded alongside the withdrawal agreement later this year.

The United Kingdom wants to build a new, deep and special partnership with the European Union, enabling us to protect our shared interests and ensure we act together for our mutual benefit. The threats we face do not recognise the borders of individual nations. The security partnership we are seeking with the EU builds on the breadth and depth of our shared interests and values, and goes beyond any existing third country arrangements.

Copies of these slides will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS683]