Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margot James and Carolyn Harris

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)]

5. What steps his Department is taking before the Christmas retail period to prevent counterfeit and substandard electrical goods from being sold.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Margot James)]

The Government take consumer protection seriously, and robust legislation requires consumer products to be safe. My Department funds trading standards to prevent high-risk products from entering the UK. This month’s national consumer week, starting on 28 November, will focus consumer awareness on faulty electrical goods, in time for the peak Christmas retail period.

[Carolyn Harris]

I thank the Minister for that answer. She will be aware that, as chair of the all-party group on home electrical safety, I have a keen interest in faulty, substandard and counterfeit goods. Last year’s hoverboards debacle highlights to us the dangers of internet sales. Will the Minister consider talking to her colleagues in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about introducing measures in the Digital Economy Bill to help prevent such incidents?

[Margot James]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question and congratulate her on the work of the home electrical safety all-party group. Manufacturers are required by law to take corrective action when they discover a fault, whether the fault emerges in products sold online or in the high street. In addition to local trading standards, we fund National Trading Standards, which prevents many substandard products from coming into the UK. I will liaise with colleagues in DCMS about the issue that she raises this morning and report back to her in due course.