Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on faulty tumble dryers causing fires; and when his Department was first made aware of safety concerns related to such tumble dryers.

Anna Soubry

Manufacturers, distributors and retailers are legally required to inform their Local Authority Trading Standards Department if they have placed unsafe products on the market under the General Product Safety Regulations 1995. Trading Standards work with the businesses concerned to manage any corrective actions accordingly.

In December 2015, Trading Standards made my Department aware of the safety concerns relating to particular brands of tumble dryer, as part of the formal notification procedure of the EU Rapid Alert system for unsafe products. In addition, my Department has received correspondence from consumers of these products, who have been directed to Trading Standards.