HC Deb 25 May 1988 vol 134 cc179-82W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he has received any representations from officials or Ministers of European Community member states concerning the new furniture fire safety regulations.

Mr. Butcher

The only official approach to the Government on this subject of which I am aware has been from the Italian embassy in London. As a result a discussion of the implications of the draft regulations for Italian suppliers of furnishing fabrics took place on 9 May.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (I) what steps he has taken to discover the extent to which the pattern book industry has the capacity to replace the pattern books of furnishing fabric suppliers within the proposed time scale for the introduction of new furniture fire safety legislation;

(2) what assessment he has made of the cost to the suppliers of soft furnishing fabric of replacing pattern books when the new furniture fire safety regulations are implemented;

(3) what assessment he has made of the amount of time that small suppliers of soft furnishing fabric will require in order to replace their pattern books prior to the introduction of new furniture fire safety regulations.

Mr. Butcher

I have received representations on these subjects and I am taking them into account in my consideration of possible changes to the draft regulations.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what technological assistance will be provided by his Department in order to help suppliers of soft furnishing fabric to conform with the requirements of the new furniture fire safety regulations.

Mr. Butcher

Detailed technological assistance is available in industry from many furniture manufacturers, from the research associations for the furniture industry and textile suppliers, from fire retardant processing companies, from independent consultants and from test houses. Many of these bodies have done a great deal of work in the past in readiness for the announcement of a date when match resistance will be required and are ready to assist fabric suppliers in meeting the requirement.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) in how many domestic fires in each of the last five years furniture has been judged to be the point of ignition;

(2) in how many domestic fires in which the ignition point was judged to be furniture death has resulted from (a) burns and (b) fumes from furniture foam, in each of the last five years;

(3) how many people have died in domestic fires in each of the last five years; and how many of those deaths were judged to have been caused by (a) burns and (b) fumes from furniture foam.

Mr. Butcher

The last five full years' statistics give the following figures for fires where the material first ignited was upholstered furniture or covers:

Year Number
1982 3,554
1983 3,325
1984 3,571
1985 3,551
1986 3,660

The numbers of deaths resulting from fires in which upholstered furniture was judged to be the item first ignited for the last available five years' statistics are as follows:

Year Number
1982 145
1983 133
1984 148
1985 146
1986 156

I am not able at this point to provide specific data concerning cause of death for these, but there seems no reason to suppose that there is any disparity in the breakdown in the causes of death between these furniture fires and the general fire figures which are as follows:

Total Fires in Occupied Buildings
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Death due to
Burns, number 258 249 262 281 300
as a percentage 33 31 32 30 33
Gas or Smoke asphyxiation, number 520 553 553 655 615
as a percentage 67 69 68 70 67

Accordingly the estimated answer to question (3) is as follows:

Fires in upholstered furniture
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Death due to
Burns 48 41 47 44 51
Gas or smoke 97 92 101 102 105

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many representations he has so far received concerning furniture fire safety regulations.

Mr. Butcher

I have received about 260 representations about the draft regulations circulated on 1 March.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what funding will be provided by his Department in order to assist the suppliers of soft furnishing fabric to conform to new furniture fire safety regulations.

Mr. Butcher

All worthwhile proposals for financial assistance towards the development of products which make a contribution to consumer safety, such as chemical treatments which make textiles more resistant to fire, receive sympathetic consideration provided that such proposals meet the criteria for R and D policy set out in the White Paper.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment his Department has made of the effect that the new furniture fire safety regulations will have on European Community trade after 1992.

Mr. Butcher

All suppliers of furniture, components, and furnishings to the British market will compete on an equal basis. It is possible that some continental suppliers will find the British market less attractive than they do at present, since our legal requirements for fire resistance of furniture will be so far ahead of those in the rest of Europe. But differences already exist and do not inhibit trade within the Community. I am satisfied that our new regulations will not have the effect of erecting new barriers to trade, in contravention of the treaty of Rome.

As for any effect on British exports, the regulations will not apply to goods destined for export. Some exporters of furnishing textiles have claimed that the effect of the draft regulations would be to require them to offer separate ranges of fabrics for the home and export trades and that this would involve unacceptable extra costs, so that their export business would in practice be adversely affected. I am taking this possibility into account in my consideration of possible changes to the draft regulations.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the overall cost for soft furnishing suppliers of meeting the new furniture fire safety regulations.

Mr. Butcher

All proposals for new regulations are subject to compliance cost assessment, a formal procedure carried out by professional economists within the DTI and designed to establish whether the compliance costs to industry, and to consumers, are proportionate to the benefits which the regulations will bring.

A correct assessment of costs will depend on the final detail of the regulations to be determined in the near future.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what steps he has taken to discover the extent to which the capacity and the proven technology exist for the full variety of furnishing fabrics to conform to the new furniture fire safety regulations;

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the effects of present fire retardant treatments on high quality textiles.

Mr. Butcher

The objective of the draft regulations is to reduce the risk of fire associated with upholstered furniture and bedding. There is therefore no question of tailoring them to enable the full variety of furnishing fabrics now commercially available to conform. On the contrary, it will be necessary for suppliers of furnishing fabrics to modify the range of products which they offer. The majority of furnishing fabrics now in use can be effectively treated to make them match-resistant and still viable in other respects such as appearance and durability. I accept that some high quality textiles may be adversely affected, for example, in appearance. I am considering the ways in which the regulations may be modified in order to take account of consumer preferences for fabrics which present problems in this respect. But the industry should recognise that a reduction in consumer choice is part of the price to be paid for increased safety.

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