Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential for a safe, accredited inspection or certification process to allow second-hand infant car seats in good condition to be re-used; and whether she will review current guidance in light of the environmental and social impacts of requiring these items to be discarded.

The Department does not provide specific guidance on the use of second-hand infant car seats and has not evaluated the feasibility of an inspection or certification process for such products.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) advises against using second-hand car seats for several reasons, including the risk of hidden damage from previous collisions. Such damage can compromise the seat’s structural integrity even when no visible defects are present. Detecting these issues would require complex and costly assessment techniques, making an accredited inspection or certification process impractical.