Safety of Electrical Appliances

Jenny Willott Excerpts

Monday 24th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Jenny Willott)]

I apologise for my voice being about an octave lower than normal: it is part of the tribulations of having small children who breed germs.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Batley and Spen (Mike Wood) on choosing this subject for debate: it is a very important issue. As he said, it is an important consumer issue, and I am replying to the debate as the consumer affairs Minister. The specific case that he raises clearly illustrates how serious it can be when things go wrong, and shows how important it is to get this area right. We all want to ensure that the electrical appliances that people buy in the UK are safe, and that people know they can trust what they are buying. The evidence shows that modern appliances from reputable sources are inherently safe, and they are much safer than older appliances.

As the hon. Gentleman said, for the more than 26 million households in the UK the fire statistics for the latest year available show that there were 21 fatalities related to electrical appliances and cables. It is a small number, but clearly each case is a tragedy and we cannot be complacent. We need to make sure that we reduce the fatality rate further.

The hon. Gentleman highlighted the Consumer Rights Bill, and we had a lengthy debate on this issue in Committee. It was a very interesting debate, and the hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan), who is in his place, tabled a new clause on the subject, so it is an issue that has been considered quite recently. I know it is of interest to a number of Members across the House, including the two Members from Northern Ireland who are in their place, the hon. Members for Foyle and for Strangford (Jim Shannon).

The way people buy electrical products is changing, and this was debated during the passage of the Consumer Rights Bill. Traditionally, people bought electrical goods by going into physical shops on the high street. Consumers were able to look at the products, see clearly what was being offered and ask questions of the retailer to assure themselves that the product was what they needed. They were more likely to know the sort of shop it was, the price and whether they could trust the retailer. That is a very different market from the one that is emerging.

The wider use of the internet has meant that distant selling has become more common, and that brings a number of issues with it. Many reputable manufacturers and retailers supply products online—I am sure many of us have purchased items in this way—but consumers can end up buying products from less reputable suppliers who deal in products that are sometimes of poor quality and unsafe and which perform badly. Such suppliers can use the internet to avoid their liabilities and responsibilities to customers. Customers are often not as well informed about the products they are purchasing, or about the person from whom they are buying, as they are when they go into a physical shop. As a result, the relationship between consumers and retailers has changed over the years.

In a very small number of cases, manufacturers will identify problems with the appliance after it has been sold and there will be a product recall—or, more correctly, a “corrective action”. Manufacturers, including importers, and distributors, such as retailers, have a duty in consumer protection legislation to ensure that the products they place on the market are safe, but corrective action is sometimes needed to remove a risk that has been identified. This includes a range of options depending on the issue, such as providing customer information and, as a last resort, recalling a product. This is complex and often very expensive.

The majority of industry recalls are undertaken voluntarily by manufacturers, as the hon. Gentleman said, because they are keen to avoid or minimise damage to their brand and to make sure that they put something right—they rely on the trust of consumers for their brand to be successful. There is a comprehensive legislative framework in place for product recalls, which is underpinned by guidance. There is also comprehensive best practice at both UK and EU level. Consumer protection legislation requires manufacturers to have a process in place to identify problems that consumers experience, so they have a feedback system. If a manufacturer of a consumer product becomes aware that it has placed an unsafe product on the market, they are obliged to tell the market surveillance authority, including trading standards, so they do have that responsibility.

Contrary to what the hon. Gentleman suggested, trading standards can insist on a recall. They have the power to ensure that a recall takes place under the general product safety regulations. This power is rarely needed as manufacturers usually do the right thing and set up a recall voluntarily, but trading standards can enforce one if they believe it is necessary. Recalls are often complex. As the hon. Gentleman highlighted, the biggest problem facing manufacturers and retailers is that it can be very difficult to trace customers. Customers often do not provide contact details when they buy a product. The difference between cars and electrical goods is that the owners of cars are in a big database and it is very easy to trace them. People are generally more loth to hand over all their contact details to the manufacturer when they are buying a toaster, so it can be much more difficult to trace them.

Consumers have the option of providing their details via warranty cards, generally for large appliances. There are, however, all sorts of reasons why they do not do so and the hon. Gentleman highlighted many of them. For many smaller items, the option is not generally available. Even if the consumer did complete the warranty card, he or she may have moved house, or changed his or her contact details for some other reason. Products are often a number of years old when the recall takes place, and contact details will have often have changed because of that. The consumer may even have disposed of the appliance by giving it away, scrapping it or selling it, and that makes recalls extremely tricky, because it is difficult to establish where products are.

I think that, in general, the legislative framework is effective and appropriate. Strict consumer protection legislation requires electrical products that are supplied to be safe, and there is legislation that places a civil liability on suppliers of appliances and producers in the event of any injury, death or damage to property. There is also legislation prohibiting misleading or untrue statements by those selling products, which covers consumers who are buying products through distance selling—over the internet, for example. So the legislation is there, but, as the hon. Gentleman emphasised, the implementation is all-important.

The Government are trying to improve market surveillance. We have funded projects to improve surveillance at United Kingdom ports with the aim of detecting non-compliant and counterfeit products, and reducing the number of such products that come into the UK. We are also trying to improve the sharing of information between authorities, and have launched a product safety focus group. We are encouraging the use of intelligence from the fire services, which are often an extremely important source of information that others do not have. Until fairly recently, we were not making very good use of that information. Through the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the UK is working in Europe to improve the sharing of information between the authorities in different countries. As more and more people buy and sell products across borders, particularly in Europe, we want to ensure that that information is shared as well.

[Jim Shannon]

Will the Minister say something about the role of the electrical contractors who supply the appliances and have to conform to the law?

[Jenny Willott]

In the case of appliances that are manufactured in the UK, the responsibility lies with either the manufacturer or the trader. In the case of appliances that are imported, the importer is liable for ensuring that they are in compliance with British law. All products that are sold in the UK must conform to British safety regulations. Traders are then responsible for ensuring that the goods that they sell to consumers are appropriate and safe, and comply with those regulations. It is clear that consumers will be protected by a number of different pieces of legislation so that they cannot fall into any gaps.

We are working with the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Electrical Appliances on an industry initiative to encourage consumers to register their appliances, because the number of people who respond to recalls is extremely low. If more people register their appliances and ensure that the details are up to date, the recalls will be more effective. The leading appliance manufacturers—there is a great deal of money behind many of the big manufacturers—are trying to encourage product registration, and have committed themselves to using the power of their marketing programmes to show consumers why it is worth registering their domestic appliances.

I hope that that will debunk some of the myths identified by the hon. Member for Strangford. Many people think that they will end up on some junk mail list and be sent a load of stuff that they do not want after handing over their contact details, and do not complete the warranty forms because they do not understand why the information needs to be held. It was quite illuminating during the Committee stage of the Consumer Rights Bill to hear a number of Members say “I had no idea that that was why we were asked to fill in those cards.” If we can make people understand why it is important to provide the information, more of them will do so, and recalls will become much more effective. We are working with the manufacturers and also with trading standards and the fire service, and with consumer groups, too, because they have a very important role to play in helping consumers understand why this is important and worth doing.

This is a very important area. Although 21 deaths is quite a low number, every one of them is a tragedy and it is still far too many. As the hon. Member for Batley and Spen highlighted, as well as those tragic deaths there are also injuries and significant damage to property. We want to try to reduce that as much as possible.

I believe that the legislative framework is right, and we are working very closely with enforcers, consumer groups, the fire service, manufacturers and retailers to try to ensure we share best practice, tighten up enforcement to make sure that is effective, and in the long run make corrective action, including recalls, more effective, so that we can reduce the number of tragedies and consumers are properly protected under the law.

Question put and agreed to.