Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he is considering regulatory steps to encourage the fitting of fire suppression systems to agricultural equipment, such as combine harvesters.

The Government is not considering regulatory steps to encourage fitting fire suppression systems to agricultural equipment. This is because existing requirements under The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 set out that machinery must be designed and constructed in a way to avoid the risk of fire or overheating posed by the machinery itself or by gases, liquids, dust, vapours or other substances produced or used by the machinery. Many organisations also issue guidance to farmers to avoid the damage and disruption caused by accidental combine harvester fires.