Katie White

Most people use fireworks in a responsible, safe, and appropriate manner and there are laws in place to address situations where fireworks are misused. The current regulatory framework is designed to support people to enjoy fireworks whilst lowering the risk of dangers and disruption to people, pets, and property.

To inform any future decisions I intend to engage with stakeholders after the fireworks season to gather evidence on the issues with and impacts of fireworks. The safety of the public and impact on people, animals, wildlife and property will be central in decisions in relation to the regulation of fireworks.

The Ford EcoBoost engine is a series of engines introduced around 14 years ago that covers a range of engine sizes and Ford vehicle models.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) investigates potential safety defects within the terms of the United Kingdom’s Code of Practice on Vehicle Safety Defects (the Code), which has the support of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (as amended). This has specific requirements as to what can and cannot be considered a safety defect and is clear on its requirement of evidence to support any conclusions made.

As the appointed regulating body, the DVSA’s Market Surveillance Unit acts solely on the evidence available and will demand safety recall action by a manufacturer whenever the requirement to do so presents itself.

The DVSA regularly audits manufacturers to ensure that their policies and procedures fully meet with the expectations of the Code. This is demonstrated by recall action generally taken voluntarily by manufacturers and prior to DVSA formally mandating action.

The DVSA continues to review all reported cases and investigates whether they present a road safety concern. Should remedial action be required, the DVSA will work with the manufacturer to ensure swift action is taken and that the manufacturer informs vehicle keepers directly.

In the past, safety recalls have been conducted for parts of the Ecoboost range, and investigations continue into potential defects today relating to 'belt failures' and whether this could constitute a safety defect, although there are no immediate concerns.

Consumers experiencing issues with Ford Ecoboost engines should contact Ford or the retailer directly to resolve the issue. Consumers can also contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 for advice.

We continue to prioritise new claims to PIP to ensure claims are put into payment as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this means many customers are waiting longer than expected for their review to be undertaken.

We have been actively recruiting additional Case Managers to meet increased demand for PIP, which means we are now in a position to begin to deploy additional resource onto award reviews. This will increase the number of review cases we can complete ‘in house’.

We have just moved to a new contract for the delivery of health assessments and our new suppliers will be taking steps to ensure they have sufficient capacity to deliver the required volume of assessments. However, this may take time and there is an extensive training period for new Healthcare Professionals to ensure quality standards are maintained.

We have introduced processes to increase efficiency and move cases through the system more quickly:

• Where sufficient evidence/information is available, Case Managers can make decisions on reviews, avoiding the need for a functional assessment, which means many customers receive a decision faster.
• Healthcare Professionals now complete most assessments by telephone, which means the vast majority of customers who need an assessment do not need to attend a face-to-face appointment at an Assessment Centre.
• We’ve introduced a change for customers with the most severe conditions, on the highest level of support, who now receive an ongoing PIP award which is only subject to a light touch review every 10 years. .

For customers waiting for a review, we keep them regularly updated using SMS text messages. We also ensure all PIP customers awaiting a review remain in payment, extending awards for up to 12 months where necessary, notifying customers in writing to allay concerns.

The UK will continue to stand up for the rights of the people of Hong Kong, as we have demonstrated by introducing the bespoke immigration route for British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) status holders and their eligible family members.