§ Mr. Maddanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has about the steps being taken by the British Standards Institution to secure that servicing and repairs of electric blankets are undertaken only by the manufacturers concerned, and that the safety of electric blankets is checked after servicing or repair.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsThe technical committee concerned is now considering an amendment to the present British Standard so as to require the label attached to an electric blanket to emphasise the importance of returning the blanket to the manufacturers for servicing or repair, and the British Standards Institution is taking steps to encourage retailers to do this on behalf of their customers. The Institution also proposes to see whether a method can be developed for checking the serviceability of electric blankets after repair.
§ Mr. Maddanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has now had from the British Standards Institution's Advisory Committee on Personal Safety about the use of materials that are only temporarily flame-resistant in electric blankets and about the British Standard in this respect.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsThis Committee recently expressed the view that the use of such materials in electric blankets 303W should not be permitted by the British Standard concerned. The technical committee responsible for the Standard will study this proposal as soon as possible.