Carolyn Harris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Carolyn Harris on 2016-02-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of mandatory electrical safety checks in care homes.

Mike Penning

Fire safety in care homes is the responsibility of the operator who is required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to assess the risk from fire to residents and employees and to implement appropriate fire precautions to prevent fires and mitigate the risk that, should a fire break out, lives are not put at risk. This would include mitigating the risk of and from electrical fires.

The Government’s fire safety risk assessment guidance for residential care premises provides detailed advice on ensuring electrical equipment is safe, and is inspected regularly by a competent electrical engineer in accordance with the Electricity at Work Regulations.

It is for local fire and rescue authorities to determine whether the specific fire precautions and management and maintenance arrangements in place in any particular residential care premises are sufficient to comply with the provisions of the Order.