Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what his Department's policy is on future furniture and furnishings fire safety regulations.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products are made available on the UK market, including products that fall under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.
Following the formation of the Government in July, the Department for Business and Trade is considering next steps for this important issue, including reviewing the evidence gathered from the 2023 consultation, Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture. The Government will engage with consumer organisations, businesses, and other interested groups and provide updates in due course.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has (a) made an assessment of the implications for her policies of (i) trends in the level of fee increases and (ii) other business practices of holiday parks and (b) had recent discussions with the Competition and Markets Authority on those issues.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Caravan park owners and operators are subject to consumer protection legislation. They are also subject to planning and site licensing rules overseen by local authorities.
We believe the existing consumer protection legislation provides the tools necessary for tackling rogue practices in this sector. However, we have announced our intention to strengthen consumer enforcement and have brought forward additional measures as part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.
The department has not discussed these issues with the Competition and Markets Authority recently.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of keeping the UK on British Summer Time.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government believes the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK.
While there is the potential for some benefits from a change in the current arrangements, there is also a real risk of negative impacts. A change to permanent summertime or double summertime may also have significant impacts on certain sectors and businesses.
Given the potential scale of impacts involved, an exceptionally wide-ranging cost benefit analysis would need to be performed to inform a decision on changing the current system.