Pushchairs (Safety) Amendment Regulations 1985 (Hansard, 19 December 1985)

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I beg to move that the draft Pushchairs (Safety) Amendment Regulations 1985, laid before the House on 7th November, be approved.
I come now to the last of these orders. Noble Lords may be able to find some connection between cosmetics, nightwear and pushchairs, but I have had to take the orders separately, and they really are not that closely connected. Your Lordships will know that we already have safety regulations on pushchairs—and on perambulators—which were made in 1978. Those regulations—the Perambulators and Pushchairs (Safety) Regulations 1978, made under the Consumer Protection Act 1961—set requirements for pushchairs relating to parking devices, stability, harness attachment points and locking devices for folding pushchairs. The requirements referred to are contained in British Standard 4792:1972, Safety Requirements for Pushchairs.
For some considerable time anxiety has been expressed by enforcement authorities, consumers and the media that these requirements are inadequate to deal with the problems exhibited by the more modern lightweight pushchairs. Since the 1978 regulations were made, the emphasis on the design of pushchairs has shifted from the heavyweight and robust type to the adaptable, convenient but lightweight version. In practice this has meant that many pushchairs cannot withstand the wear and tear of everyday use. Common failings include failure of welds and rivets, shearing of cross-bars and other metal parts, and wheels dropping off. Moreover, parking devices on some swivel-wheeled pushchairs have been found to be inadequate.
A major revision of British Standard 4792's safety requirements was, therefore, undertaken and a new standard was published by the British Standards Institute on 31st May 1984. It sets endurance tests and additional strength tests which experience has shown to be essential in the interests of safety, and it contains new proposals on parking devices, marking, construction and materials, and instructions on safe use and maintenance. The Government announced their intention to make new pushchair safety regulations calling up the whole of this new British Standard for the technical requirements. A consultation process was carried out, which confirmed that there is general support for the new regulations from all United Kingdom interests, including suppliers, consumers, 938 local authorities, medical experts and the media, and I am glad to be able to propose them to the House. They will come into operation on 1st June 1986. The existing perambulators legislation will remain, as a revised British Standard for perambulators is still being formulated by the relevant technical committee of the British Standards Institute.
These new regulations have not been introduced earlier because of the intervention of the European Commission, which suspended their making for 12 months. However, despite the commission's views that these regulations could constitute a barrier to trade, the Government maintain that because of the known accidents the regulations are fully warranted under Article 36 of the Treaty of Rome and should be made without delay. I invite this House to approve the regulations.

Lord Bruce of Donington
My Lords, we on this side of the House are happy to support the introduction of the regulations and to fortify the Government's resolve to resist the Commission in any endeavours that it may make to interfere in the domestic affairs of the United Kingdom with regard to this vital safety factor. The remarks that I made about enforcement on the previous regulations that we considered apply with equal force to these regulations, but your Lordships will be relieved to hear that I do not propose to repeat them and nor do I propose to extend the proceedings.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Bruce, for his welcome to the regulations.