Amendment 41 was tabled by my noble friend Lady Brinton but, as I have explained, she is unable to be with us today. Her amendment and others in this group, including my own and those of my noble friend Lord Redesdale, seek to address an issue that I have frequently raised in your Lordships’ House: safety issues in connection with lithium-ion batteries. Indeed, I have already done
so on a number of occasions in earlier groups, particularly in the previous group, where I used lithium-ion batteries as an example of why we need specific regulations regarding high-risk products.
Whenever I have discussed these issues, I have always recognised the vital importance of lithium-ion batteries. They currently provide a crucial role in our drive towards low carbon or zero carbon. After all, they can store more energy than any other commercially available battery at present. However, they have their dangers.
If incorrectly constructed—an issue that is picked up by Amendment 46 from the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, which I support—or if they are damaged or misused, not least through incorrect charging, there can be a thermal runaway, reaching enormously high temperatures of many hundreds of degrees. These fires give off toxic and dangerous gases and, as I pointed out in an earlier discussion, they cannot be put out by using water.
Amendment 44 recognises that this is a framework Bill and new regulations are going to come at a later stage, but it argues that the particular urgency relating to the dangers, especially of fire and explosion, of unregulated lithium batteries, which are often purchased from abroad, requires urgent action from the Government. It therefore proposes that the Secretary of State must lay regulations relating to lithium-ion batteries within six months of the passing of this Act, and that in the period prior to doing so the Secretary of State will have consulted all the statutory consultees, including the fire service and relevant consumer industry bodies and manufacturing and trade bodies. My Amendment 49 seeks to place a duty on online marketplaces to take all reasonable steps to ensure that products containing lithium-ion batteries sold on their platforms comply with the UK safety standards that will be developed.
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Many noble Lords will have received numerous statistics about the problems that can arise from lithium-ion batteries; it is not my intention on this occasion to repeat them, other than to draw attention to just a couple. In the UK, the number of fires linked to lithium-ion batteries increased by 46% in 2023, compared to 2022. Fire services attended 921 fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in 2023, of which one-third involved e-bikes, with the London Fire Brigade attending one such fire every two days. They are the fastest-growing cause of fire in the capital.
It is worth noting that concerns in this area are widespread—to the point that, for example, people are now forbidden from taking e-bikes on to any London Transport vehicles. Interestingly, Chiltern Railways has put up posters forbidding the bringing of lithium-ion batteries on to its trains, with “Lithium-ion batteries cause fires” written in huge letters. There is real concern here, which we must urgently address.
As I pointed out in our debate on an earlier amendment, in the absence of action by the Government, the e-bike sector is trying to do what it can by promoting safe use and safe charging—as well as by drawing attention to reputable sellers of e-bikes that ensure that the correct safety standards are adhered to—but, frankly, the Government should not be leaving this to the industry. They must do more themselves, and urgently.
We should of course be concerned about the impact of the growing number of lithium-ion batteries, particularly in terms of fire services and the risk that such fires put fire officers under, and about the huge costs arising from damage to property. However, our biggest concern should be about the injuries and, tragically, the deaths caused by such fires. Let me give one example. In June 2023, Gemma and her two children, Lilly and Oliver, were killed in Cambridge as a result of an e-bike bought online exploding in their home. Her partner, Scott, survived with very serious injuries; he was in a coma for a month. He subsequently said:
“I feel like my life has ended and I don’t know how to move on. Before the fire, I had no idea about the dangers of these lithium-ion batteries. I bought my battery online and just assumed it would be safe, I never imagined it could be so dangerous. The battery exploded under my stairs, whilst my family was asleep. Flames were coming up the stairs like a flamethrower. The fire and smoke filled the house up in seconds. I told them to jump but they couldn’t get out”.
This appalling story—there are many others that I could have quoted—explains why I believe the Government must move sooner rather than later in regulating lithium-ion batteries, as well as in educating the public about the dangers.
Responding to our debate on the first group of amendments, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, said that he believes the Bill will enable regulations addressing concerns about lithium-ion batteries to be brought forward. I absolutely believe that that is the case and that it is the Government’s intention so to do. However, at this stage, we need clear assurances that they will come forward and will cover all the concerns raised; equally importantly, we need assurances that they will come forward quickly. This is why I am so keen for the Government to accept my noble friend Lady Brinton’s Amendment 44, which would ensure that action happens within six months of the passing of this Bill: any delays beyond that will result in far more horror stories like Scott’s. I beg to move.