Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending protections for whistleblowers to charity trustees.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The whistleblowing protections provided by the Employment Rights Act 1996 apply to a broader range of individuals than other rights under the Act. For example, they also apply to trainees and certain self-employed NHS practitioners.
However, the protections do not currently apply to charity trustees. The Government plans to consult on the whistleblowing framework and would welcome responses, including on this issue. The consultation will seek feedback on the operation of the framework to ensure it is working effectively.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he has taken to assess the risk of asbestos contamination in imported products from (a) China and (b) elsewhere.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The UK product safety regime places responsibilities on manufacturers and importers to assess any risks their products may pose and ensure consumer products, including imports, are safe before being placed on the market. No level of asbestos is permitted in consumer products in the UK and where non-compliant products have been identified the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and Local Authority Trading Standards, have acted quickly to ensure recalls are undertaken.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of mechanisms to safeguard against a residential address being fraudulently used to register a company without the knowledge of the resident of the address.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 strengthened Companies House’s powers to query or reject inaccurate or suspicious addresses, enabling the Registrar to act swiftly and decisively against misuse of residential addresses.
Many fraudulent or misused registered office addresses have been removed and replaced with default addresses and companies without appropriate addresses are struck off, protecting those whose details were used without permission.
Companies House’s systems improve continuously to detect and prevent unauthorised address use. The Government is considering the Public Accounts Committee’s recommendation for increased powers to verify new and existing company addresses and will respond in November.