§ Mr. Wardasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will take steps to ban the use of polyurethane foam in domestic furniture in view of the toxic fumes created when fire occurs.
§ Mr. MaudeNo. As with the burning of most organic substances, the main toxic gas produced by burning polyurethane foam is carbon monoxide.
I am today issuing a consultation document setting out a draft code of practice on ignition resistance of upholstered furniture.
Recent developments in polyurethane technology offer foams which, when used in furniture, appear to burn less rapidly and with the production of less smoke and toxic gas. I believe that the way forward is to encourage the use of these better types of foam filling in furniture manufacture as quickly as possible, rather than banning a material which has many excellent qualities.
§ Mr. Wardasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if he will make it his policy to bring commercial recovering of domestic furniture within the law relating to fire resistance of domestic upholstered furniture;
(2) when he intends to introduce regulations leading to a higher standard of fire resistance in domestic upholstered furniture; and if he will make a statement on the standards to be introduced.
§ Mr. MaudeI am today issuing a consultation document setting out a draft code of practice on ignition resistance of upholstered furniture. A number of options are proposed in that document : I am satisfied that all would provide for a degree of improved safety in their various ways, whether by requiring the use of match resistant covering fabric or by requiring the use of more fire-resistant foam or other filling.
Following consultation, I propose to make new regulations to replace those made in 1980 and amended in 1983 in order to make mandatory the code of practice.
The mandatory code of practice approach offers a direct way of dealing with loose covers and commercial recovering of furniture within the same regulations, which a mandatory match test for complete items of furniture cannot do.
§ Mr. Wardasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make it his policy to extend the controls relating to fire resistance of domestic furniture to beds and other everyday items currently outside the law.
§ Mr. MaudeI intend to make use of the general safety requirement in the Consumer Protection Act 1987 to set92W an acceptable standard of fire resistance for beds and mattresses. This will be done by approval of the British standard specification for the ignition resistance of mattresses when this is finalised. Equally, if other standard specifications are prepared indicating a minimum level of fire resistance for other everyday domestic items, I shall consider approving these also.
§ Mr. Cryerasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will introduce legislation to ensure that fire safety regulations for furniture sold for use in the home are stringently applied; if he is satisfied that there are adequate safeguards to ensure that toys are not inflammable; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Maude[pursuant to his reply, 30 June 1987, c. 58]: It is for local authorities to enforce regulations cons rolling the fire safety of upholstered furniture made under the Consumer Safety Act 1978, whose provisions have now been subsumed in the Consumer Protection Act 1987. There is no need for additional enforcement legislation. The present Toy (Safety) Regulations are inadequate in respect of the flammability requirements. The draft European directive on toy safety, which will considerably extend those requirements, was accepted in principle by the Council of Ministers on 10 June and is now before the European Parliament. If the directive is adopted, regulations to implement the directive will be introduced in due course.