Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the online sale of carbon monoxide alarms that do not comply with UK trading standards.
Answered by Justin Madders
All consumer products placed on the UK market must be safe. Businesses that produce or import products have obligations to ensure they are safe before placing them on the market, and relevant British Standards can assist those making carbon monoxide alarms available to comply.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards undertakes market surveillance and engages with online marketplaces to remove unsafe products and reduce the risk of non-compliant products being sold online. The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill will also give the Government powers to introduce new duties on online marketplaces to increase the safety of products available online.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will extend the Fire Kills campaign to raise awareness of fatal carbon monoxide poisoning.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Home Office’s Fire Kills campaign raises awareness of fire safety advice and seeks to educate people on how to keep themselves and those they care for safe from the risks of fire in the home.
The campaign supports fire and rescue authorities in delivering their statutory duty to promote fire safety through the provision of fire safety resources, materials and campaign initiatives.
Other bodies, such as the Gas Safe Register promote gas safety messages for the public.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure its consular guidance raises awareness of cities with high levels of carbon monoxide.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice remains under regular review to ensure it reflects our latest assessment of risks to British nationals. The risks from carbon monoxide poisoning are covered in travel advice for China and Nepal, Solo and independent travel and Volunteering and adventure travel pages as well as our Foreign travel checklist.
We aim to include information in our travel advice on the issues most likely to be of relevance to British nationals visiting or living in each country/territory. In determining what we include in our travel advice we assess a range of factors, including drawing on local knowledge and monitoring trends in consular cases.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of integrating carbon monoxide risks into country-based travel advisories.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are now adding information to our dedicated page for independent travellers to highlight the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning globally. We will continue to include information about carbon monoxide in specific country travel advice where there is evidence of significant and enduring risk to British people. Currently that is China and Nepal. We keep this under regular review.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to ensure that carbon monoxide alarms are properly tested using (a) UK manufactured, (b) safe and (c) industry-approved test gas.
Answered by Justin Madders
Carbon monoxide alarms should be properly tested before they can be placed on the UK market. British Standard EN 50291-1:2018 outlines the test methods and performance requirements of carbon monoxide alarms used in a domestic setting, and British Standard EN 50291:2:2019 outlines the same for carbon monoxide alarms used in recreational vehicles and similar premises.
The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill, which is going through Parliament at the moment, will provide the powers needed to keep our wide and technical product regulation framework up to date, enabling the UK to maintain its high product standards.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning risks among British tourists overseas.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We provide information and guidance in our Travel Advice on the issues most likely to be of relevance to British nationals visiting or living in each country/territory. In determining what we include in our Travel Advice we assess a range of factors, including drawing on local knowledge and monitoring trends in consular cases. The risk of carbon monoxide poisoning is currently covered in our Travel Advice pages for China and Nepal. In addition, two of our Travel Aware partners, RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) and the Safer Tourism Foundation, run campaigns and continue to develop messaging to alert travellers to the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning around the world. We regularly review the work we do with all our Travel Aware partners ensuring that they are highlighting appropriate issues to British travellers.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of integrating carbon monoxide risks into country-based travel advisories.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO) travel advice remains under regular review to ensure it reflects our latest assessment of risks to British nationals. The risks of carbon monoxide poisoning is currently covered in our Travel Advice pages for China and Nepal. We aim to include information in our travel advice on the issues most likely to be of relevance to British nationals visiting or living in each country/territory. In determining what we include in our Travel Advice we assess a range of factors, including drawing on local knowledge and monitoring trends in consular cases.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing the exemption of care homes from the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 on public health.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have no current plans to assess the impact of removing this exemption. The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, later amended by the Carbon Monoxide Regulations 2022, are for rented residential premises in England. The regulations exclude a range of settings, including care homes.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting the guidelines entitled WHO global air quality guidelines: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, published on 22 September 2021.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to meeting current legal targets for air quality, including the targets recently set under the Environment Act 2021, and will review the policy measures needed to achieve them. We will deliver a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy, including a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines are intended to inform the setting of air quality standards and are not ready-made targets for direct adoption as they do not consider achievability or individual countries’ circumstances. However, we will consider WHO guidelines as part of an evidence led process when considering future targets.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the clean air policy addresses the risks of (a) carbon monoxide and (b) other indoor air pollutants.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works in partnership with other organisations to develop advice and recommended actions which can improve detection of, and prevent accidental exposure to, carbon monoxide in homes. This includes participating in a cross-Government group on gas safety and carbon monoxide awareness, which promotes a joined-up approach to improving gas safety and reducing carbon monoxide poisoning risks.
The UKHSA Clean Air Programme includes efforts both to build the evidence base and raise awareness of indoor air quality and its health impacts. Furthermore, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on indoor air quality at home, designed to raise awareness of the importance of good air quality in people's homes and advise on how to achieve this.
Building regulations already require that carbon monoxide alarms are fitted alongside the installation of fixed combustion appliances of any fuel type, excluding gas cookers, in all tenures. The ingress of outdoor air can affect indoor air quality, and the Government is committed to delivering a comprehensive and ambitious Clean Air Strategy.