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Margot James MP

Department for Business, Energy &


Industrial Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET

T +44 (0) 20 7215 5000


Andy Slaughter MP
E enquiries@beis.gov.uk
House of Commons
W www.gov.uk
London
SW1A 0AA 27 February 2017

Dear Andy,

Thank you for your letter dated 14 December 2016 in follow up to our earlier correspondence
on Whirlpool tumble dryers.

I would like to assure you that I continue to take a very active interest in Whirlpools handling
of their corrective action programme. It is clearly important to people across the country that
they can have confidence in the safety of the goods in their homes. My officials are in close
contact with Peterborough City Council Trading Standards and I am reassured that they
continue to keep the issue under active review. As you will be aware they have taken
enforcement action, issuing Whirlpool with a notice to warn that requires the company to warn
consumers not to use the affected machines until they have been modified. The two
organisations are currently working closely together to ensure compliance and the modification
programme is continuing. I understand from Whirlpool that consumers are able to request a
replacement machine at a discounted cost in place of a modification.

I note your concerns about alleged problems with the modification. My officials have discussed
this with Whirlpool who have provided assurance that their modification programme has been
thoroughly evaluated and they are confident it is being undertaken in an effective and safe
manner by their engineering team.

In parallel to action being taken by Whirlpool and Peterborough, BEIS is working on solutions
to the underlying issues revealed by this case. The Working Group on Product Recalls and
Safety that I established has now shared with me their initial recommendations for priority
action by the Government. I am currently considering them in more detail and I look forward to
receiving their full report by the end of March.

Thank you for your continued interest in this important issue. I am copying this letter to Alberto
Costa MP, Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Yvonne Fovargue MP and Carolyn Harris MP, in view of their
interest in this matter.

MARGOT JAMES MP
Minister for Small Business, Consumers & Corporate Responsibility

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