Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, what steps they are taking to support consumers who cannot monitor their energy consumption via their smart meter as a result of a failure to connect with a data hub.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Energy suppliers are required by licence conditions to take all reasonable steps to ensure their customers’ smart meters are fully functional and provide customers with complete and accurate information. Energy suppliers must also offer an In-Home Display (IHD) at the point of installation and provide a replacement or repair for any faulty IHD within the first year of installing a consumer’s smart meters.
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) is responsible for regulating energy suppliers against their licence obligations.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the introduction of compulsory product registration of white goods at point of sale.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government encourages consumers to register their domestic appliances and is taking proactive steps to increase the rates of product registration in the UK. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has undertaken research to survey over 4,000 consumers to understand their attitudes to product safety, including product registration.
In January 2020, OPSS began a product registration research trial with the aim of increasing product registration rates by applying behavioural principles. The trial will monitor the rates of product registration and the data collected will be used to develop further initiatives to increase product registration by consumers. The Government keeps all options under review and is keen to ensure that any activity to increase the rate of product registration is evidence based and proportionate.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to requiring manufacturers to fit white goods with a standardised rating plate in an identical position on all such goods for the purpose of easy product identification.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the value of being able to identify a product following a product safety incident. Under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016, before placing electrical equipment on the market, a manufacturer must ensure that it bears a type, batch or serial number to allow for its identification.
Research commissioned by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has identified a number of potential systems for the indelible marking of white goods. OPSS will further explore with key stakeholders the barriers which are currently preventing industry from implementing such a system.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to improving the traceability of white goods.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the value of being able to identify a product following a product safety incident. Under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016, before placing electrical equipment on the market, a manufacturer must ensure that it bears a type, batch or serial number to allow for its identification.
Research commissioned by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has identified a number of potential systems for the indelible marking of white goods. OPSS will further explore with key stakeholders the barriers which are currently preventing industry from implementing such a system.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to improving the safety of white goods that are sold second hand.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The law requires that only safe products may be placed on the market, whether they are new or second hand. Electrical products placed on the market must comply with the legal safety requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 (or of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 if they were placed on the market before December 2016).
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is rolling out training to front line Trading Standards Officers on the safety of second-hand electrical goods later this year. In addition, OPSS will be publishing good practice guidance on the responsibilities for those who sell second-hand electrical goods. The Chief Executive of OPSS has also written to the Charity Retailers Association, urging them to ensure electrical products sold in charity shops are safe. The Association covers almost 9,000 charity and second-hand shops in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of consumer protection legislation governing the sale of both new and used private goods online.
Answered by Lord Henley
Her Majesty’s Government considers evidence of the effectiveness of all consumer legislation periodically and will take action where appropriate.
In April 2018, the Government published a Consumer Green Paper consulting on a variety of issues including seeking views on the legal framework covering consumer to consumer transactions, which would include new and used goods. The Consumer Green Paper is available in the Libraries of the House. We will publish a Consumer White Paper in due course.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of legislation governing the sale of recalled electrical products; and whether they have any plans to introduce legislation covering the sale of such products.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 places duties on manufacturers, importers and distributors of electrical equipment to ensure that where a safety issue is identified, appropriate action is taken to withdraw, recall or otherwise bring the equipment into conformity. Distributors, including retailers of second-hand goods, also have a duty to act with care to ensure that any products they sell meet the legal safety requirements. There are no plans to introduce any further legislation.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards operates an incident management procedure for managing consumer product safety incidents, to deliver on its wider purpose of protecting consumers and building public confidence in the product safety system. It also makes available information on recalled electrical products through its dedicated product recall website.
Asked by: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are planning to take to ensure that the British Business Bank lends to all parts of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The role of the British Business Bank is to increase the supply of finance available to smaller businesses where markets are not working well, wherever in the UK that might be. The Bank’s programmes are supporting almost £3.2 billion of finance to more than 51,000 smaller businesses and are participating in a further £4.6 billion of finance to small mid-cap businesses across the UK. The British Business Bank is further supporting the availability of finance by creating the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine investment funds to provide debt and equity to small growing companies. These investment funds have been designed in close partnership with Local Enterprise Partnerships to ensure they respond to regional demand where market failures exist, to promote local growth and help create an economy that works for everyone.