Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Department has made any assessment of the link between the 1988 Furniture Regulations and the 323% elevated cancer rates among young firefighters cited in London Assembly's Exposure to fire contaminants in London: A hidden, growing risk? - Fire Committee report (February 2026).
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Whilst the government is not aware of any evidence that directly links elevated cancer rates to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (the FFRs), we recognise that there is an increasing body of evidence to support action to reduce the volume of chemical flame retardants (CFRs) which are used to ensure that upholstered furniture passes flammability tests.
The policy paper 'The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture', published on 22 January 2025, set out the Government’s commitment to delivering reforms to the FFRs that maintain a high level of fire safety while also facilitating a reduction in the use of CFRs.
Since publication, the Department for Business and Trade has undertaken targeted engagement to inform next steps, including a roundtable in July 2025 that considered the issue of open-flame testing. The Government will provide an update on this in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendation from the Environmental Audit Committee's Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Life report of 2019 to end the use of the ‘match and fillings’ tests; and whether he plans to prioritise the removal of chemical contaminants at source alongside existing cleaning protocols.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Whilst the government is not aware of any evidence that directly links elevated cancer rates to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (the FFRs), we recognise that there is an increasing body of evidence to support action to reduce the volume of chemical flame retardants (CFRs) which are used to ensure that upholstered furniture passes flammability tests.
The policy paper 'The fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture', published on 22 January 2025, set out the Government’s commitment to delivering reforms to the FFRs that maintain a high level of fire safety while also facilitating a reduction in the use of CFRs.
Since publication, the Department for Business and Trade has undertaken targeted engagement to inform next steps, including a roundtable in July 2025 that considered the issue of open-flame testing. The Government will provide an update on this in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the National Disability Strategy, published on 28 July 2021, which of her Department’s commitments in that strategy that have not been paused as a result of legal action have (a) been fully, (b) been partially and (c) not been implemented.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to my Rt Hon. Friend Caroline Nokes, the Member for Romsey and Southampton North, today [3rd July 2023], UIN 189785.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Business and Trade employees remain employed by their previous departments until the new Department is established by a Transfer of Functions order. Data recorded for BEIS and DIT can be found below.
For BEIS, the proportion of people employed by the Department who have recorded that they have a disability was 11% as of 28 February 2023.
For DIT, the proportion of people employed by DIT who have reported having a disability was 12% as of 28 February 2023.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, what steps his Department has taken to consult with disabled people and disabled people's organisations on flexible working since the 2019 general election.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Since December 2019, the Government has run a 12-week consultation on flexible working. As part of this exercise, we held individual and roundtable discussions with disabled people’s organisations, before publishing our response in December 2022. The response committed to legislative changes, several of which are being taken forward through the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill.
Furthermore, in April 2021, to ensure the effective representation of the views of disabled people, Scope became a member of the Flexible Working Taskforce, a partnership between Government Departments, business groups and third sector organisations set up to consider barriers to flexible working.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, what requirements his Department will place on employers to consult with employees before accepting or rejecting a flexible working request; and in what way the Government will ensure that those requirements are enforced.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government is pleased to support the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill which will introduce a requirement for employers to consult with an employee before rejecting their statutory flexible working request. The Bill does not specify what form the consultation should take.
The Government will work with both the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and the Flexible Working Taskforce to develop appropriate guidance on each of the measures that the Bill will introduce.
If an employer does not handle a request as required by Part 8A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee may be able to bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, when and in what way the Government plans to introduce the right to request flexible working from the first day of employment.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government response to the “making flexible working the default” consultation was published on 5 December 2022. It sets out that the Government will make the right to request flexible working a ‘day one’ entitlement, by removing the existing 26-week qualifying period. This change will be delivered through secondary legislation, using existing powers in the Employment Rights Act 1996.
We are committed to introducing this change alongside the measures included in the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has a Ministerial disability champion.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Business and Trade has appointed Minister Hollinrake as Ministerial Disability Champion.