My Lords, I begin by thanking the Minister for his willingness to engage with all noble Lords who have shown an interest in this Bill, and I thank his team for the support and help that they have given. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, on his new role.
We have frequently described this Bill as being skeletal. In the two amendments that I am proposing, Amendments 2 and 27, I am offering some flesh to put on the bones of that skeleton. I am acutely aware that many of the regulations that will arise from the Bill will look at products in isolation, but there are many cases whereby products are intended for use when they are installed within some system or other, and it is usually an electrical system.
Amendment 2 suggests that, when considering the safety of a product, we should take into account, where relevant, its installation. Amendment 27 argues that, when the product is installed into a system, the system as a whole, including the product, should require third-party certification.
Let us take as an example something that is happening up and down the country at the moment—the installation of EV charging points, more often than not in individual homes. They are installed by electricians who, under current regulations, register the circuit and the changes made to the consumer unit, but who do not have to register the EV charging point itself. That means that the certification body is not tracking where those charge points are, not informing local building control and not doing any inspection or assessment of the charge points to ensure that they are compliant with building regulations or safety.
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A far more worrying example is the installation of a battery energy storage system, which I shall refer to as BESS. We will later discuss the safety concerns that I and many others have about lithium-ion batteries. Very often, these batteries form part of the installation of, for example, a solar panel array in domestic properties. You have the solar panels, the wiring and the storage battery—the BESS.
BESS installations are often carried out by members of competent person schemes, notably Certsure and NAPIT. They have to ensure that the electrical circuit complies with BS 7671, but they do not register the BESS units themselves and therefore neither track where these systems are installed nor monitor the quality of their installation.
Recently, a code of practice and qualification guide were developed under the direction of the electrotechnical assessment specification management committee. However, the penetration of these qualifications and training for installers of BESSs are very low. Even those who have that qualification, unfortunately, often do not have knowledge of or understand the fire safety requirements.
I mention fire safety because it is particularly relevant. We will come on to discuss lithium-ion batteries, and we know that, if those batteries get into difficulty—through misuse or damage—they can create huge fires, of very high temperatures, with huge amounts of noxious gases, but which cannot be put out using
water. It is really important that people know if a fire is being caused by a lithium-ion battery, so that they can address it. The problem with the current system is that there is no notification requirement to, for example, local fire brigades. The notification itself is often left to the individual home owner, who is therefore placed under a significant undue burden and who is often not aware of the complexities of the situation.
We need to ensure that a number of key things happen. We need to ensure that statutory guidance is introduced to address the specific fire and safety risks of BESS installations, including proper siting, fire detection and emergency response considerations. This guidance needs to be available to home owners as well.
Competent person scheme frameworks clearly need to be strengthened, with immediate effect, to require the registration and tracking of BESS units and such things, with mandatory oversight to ensure compliance with both electrical and safety standards. We need mandatory fire safety training and qualifications, as well as competency certification for BESS installers.
We need to ensure that our current reliance on the consumer to do the registration is replaced with an installer-led process of registration, with clear obligations to notify all the relevant authorities as part of building regulations compliance. Homes with BESS should be clearly labelled, and local fire services should obviously be notified of installation.
The two amendments I am proposing could ensure that all those things are achieved. They would ensure comprehensive oversight, proper certification, enhanced fire safety regulations and improved installer qualifications, so that we mitigate the risks and safeguard home owners and the wider public. The same argument could be made for EV chargers, which I referred to earlier, and a number of other products included within systems. That is why I am so keen to ensure that installation is upfront as something that we will take into account.
The Minister is aware of my concern. In a letter that he sent to a number of us, he wrote about this issue. Regarding installation, he said:
“It is certainly our express intention that regulations made under this Bill will be able to, where necessary, cover installation of the products”.
He goes on to say that “use” is defined in Clause 1(5) and that,
“though this does not specifically mention insulation, this is an inclusive definition and ‘use’ is broad enough to capture installation”.
I appreciate entirely what the Minister is saying, which is that the Bill is capable of covering everything I want. The problem, as we discussed on the previous group, is that there is no opportunity for consultation, even when we come to the regulatory procedure. If the Minister does not end up achieving what he says he hopes to achieve, we will have no way of doing anything about it; that is why it is so important that we put this matter in the Bill.
I hope I have explained this in a way simple enough for the noble Lord, Lord Deben, not to get concerned about people using the arguments of complexity. It is a very simple argument: in some cases, products have to be looked at in the context of their installation. The Minister will, I hope, either accept these amendments or come forward with a similar solution. I beg to move.