HC Deb 10 May 1988 vol 133 cc69-70W
Mr. lain Mills

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether there has been any progress on drafting a standard for foam filling of domestic upholstered furniture during consultation on his Department's draft Furniture and Furnishing (Fire) (Safety) Regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Butcher

Yes. During the consultation period on the draft regulations, agreement has emerged on a draft British Standard specification "The Flammability

Table 1—Government expenditure on R and D1 as a percentage of the gross domestic product (gdp)
United Kingdom United States of America France Federal Republic of Germany Italy
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent.
All government spending
1979 1.30 1.18 1.08 1.14 0.39
1980 1.37 1.14 1.12 1.15 0.46
1981 1.41 1.12 1.31 1.15 0.65
1982 1.34 116 1.32 1.21 0.64
1983 1.33 1.16 1.41 1.14 0.70
1984 1.34 1.19 1.46 1.11 0.76
1985 1.29 1.26 1.47 1.13 0.78
1986 2 1.23 1.28 1.49 1.10 0.85
1987 21.18 1.32 .. 1.11 0.72
Government spending on defence R and D
1979 0.67 0.58 0.38 0.13 0.01
1980 0.71 0.57 0.41 0.11 0.01
1981 0.69 0.61 0.50 0.10 0.04
1982 0.64 0.71 0.46 0.10 0.03
1983 0.66 0.74 0.45 0.11 0.04
1984 0.68 0.79 0.48 0.11 0.07
1985 0.67 0.85 0.45 0.14 0.08
1986 0.60 0.88 0.45 0.13 0.08
1987 0.60 0.91 .. 0.14 0.06
Government spending on non-defence R and D
1979 0.64 0.60 0.70 1.00 0.38

Behaviour of Single filling Components (Foams or Fibres) Used in Domestic Upholstered Furniture" (document 88/37988) issued by BSI on 12 April. A copy has been placed in the Library. This technical specification will be incorporated in the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations.

This specification has the agreement of my Department, and was drawn up by a BSI committee on which the fire prevention officers and enforcement officers, the foam manufacturers and the furniture manufacturers were represented. Although the consultation period on the draft Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations does not end until 12 May, I believe that, in the interests of clarity and to allow the manufacturers to plan ahead, it is right to make this agreement public in advance of the end of the consultation period. I will be considering all other comments made on the draft regulations after 12 May and will make a further announcement as soon as possible after that date.