Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department holds data on the number of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries attended by Fire and Rescue Services in Slough each year.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) does not currently hold data on the number of fires caused by lithium-ion battery failures attended by Fire and Rescue Services in Slough, or elsewhere in England.

MHCLG collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), with this data including the cause of the fire and the source of the ignition. This data is published in a variety of publications, available here. This does not yet include data on whether fire incidents attended were caused by lithium-ion failures.

The Fire and Rescue Analysis Platform (FaRDaP) is now used for the collection of fire and rescue incident data, and work is ongoing to update the data it will collect, with data covering lithium-ion batteries’ role in fire incidents potentially able to be included in the future.

In addition, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) conduct research into product safety risks associated with lithium-ion batteries and are working closely with MHCLG and other Government Departments to develop this knowledge base. A report from January 2025 by the OPSS that covers the root causes of fire incidents often associated with lithium-ion battery failures is available here.