Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle unsafe gas works in homes.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR) forms the basis of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) approach to ensuring safe gas work in homes within Great Britain. This includes taking enforcement action against those who do not comply with their legal obligations, including carrying out gas work whilst not competent to do so.

GSIUR also allowed for the establishment of the Gas Safe Register (GSR) which aims to protect the public from unsafe gas work through:

• Ensuring all gas engineers have the appropriate qualifications;

• Operating a national investigations team tracking down un-registered gas workers;

• Carrying out regular inspections of registered engineers, to ensure they are applying gas competence and complying with GSIUR;

• Investigating reports of unsafe gas work; and

• Educating consumers and raising awareness of gas safety.

GSR will apply appropriate sanctions on those businesses found carrying out unsafe gas work as per their Sanctions Policy.

GSR can pass concerns to HSE who will consider the concern in line with the HSE Enforcement Policy statement available to view here HSE - Enforcement action.

The best way to maintain gas safety is by ensuring that only competent, registered engineers undertake gas work. HSE encourages consumers to ask to see Gas Safe Registration ID before permitting engineers to enter their homes. This can also be checked on the Gas Safe Register website: Find or check a Gas Safe registered business.