OPSS Delivery Report 2022-2023: Statistical Annex
Updated 27 February 2024
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January 2024
Purpose
This annex presents further information on the statistics and metrics used in the OPSS Delivery Report 2022-2023. It explains the background to the statistics including how the data is collected, any caveats to using the data and any references to published documents.
Online marketplace product testing programme
In October 2021, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) commenced a programme of test purchasing to check compliance of products available to UK consumers from specific online marketplaces (OMPs). The purpose was to understand the products available and the risks they posed and to take appropriate enforcement action.
Read the results from the programme for October 2021 to September 2022.
Section 70 Weights and Measures (legal metrology)
Under Section 70 of the Weights & Measures Act 1985, Local Weights and Measures Authorities (LWMAs) in Great Britain have a statutory duty to report to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade the level of local Weights and Measures enforcement work conducted over a twelve-month period.
Read the Section 70 report for 2022-2023 and accompanying methodology and quality report.
Product Safety Database (PSD)
The UK Product Safety Database (PSD) is the notification system used by local authority trading standards (environmental health in Northern Ireland), certain national regulators and OPSS enforcement teams to notify unsafe and non-compliant products to the Secretary of State, as required in product safety legislation. [footnote 1]
Read the PSD report for 2022 to 2023 and accompanying methodology and quality report.
OPSS launched a new safety alerts, reports and recalls service to make searchable information regarding unsafe products and recalls more accessible to business and the public. It is primarily driven by PSD notifications. During 2022 to 2023, 3,393 records were added to the PSD, 2,814 of these were product safety notifications and 640 were subsequently published on the new system as they involved higher risk notifications or product specific recalls and corrective actions.
Access the list of Product Safety Alerts, Recalls and Recalls.
Enquiry case management system (ECMS)
ECMS is a new internal digital system used by OPSS to record case management activities, replacing multiple legacy systems to ensure consistency between teams and projects. It went live in September 2022, with additional capabilities and refinements being added regularly. It covers investigations, enquiries, requests for advice and checks on compliance that do not necessarily identify non-compliance.
The system implements a case structure but allows linking of related cases, products or business entities, and allows regulators to track and manage caseloads, whilst retaining vital information which supports collaboration with key partners and manages record keeping. Each case can be for single or multiple products, entire classes of products, and can concern referrals into or out of OPSS, enforcement or advisory action, or product testing and evidence management. ECMS has been designed to provide better data and ease of operation, and for example allows staff to seamlessly attach emails or information to case records supporting efficient working whilst providing a robust evidence trail. This coupled with developments of the ECMS for disclosure purposes will significantly enhance the case management system to support investigations.
Lead officers are responsible for the quality and accuracy of the data they enter. Entries are regularly updated with progress updates and additional information relevant to the case to allow users to track actions taken.
The following information in the delivery report was sourced from ECMS and previous legacy systems:
- Local authority engagement
- Timber regulations compliance
- Batteries placing on the market (BPoM)
- Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
- Access benefit sharing (ABS)
- Gas and electricity metering
- Electric vehicles and fuel labelling
These figures have not been robustly quality assured across the time period due to inconsistent recording between systems and difficulties in replicating data extractions. The data should be used as indicative of volumes rather than as definitive numbers.
National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD)
Vehicle and automotive and industrial battery producers must register with OPSS within 28 days of first placing batteries on the UK market. This is done via the NPWD, a database maintained by the Environment Agency.
Access the NPWD – Registered users only, Environment Agency website.
On 31 March 2023, the end of year review of performance showed 93% of 518 registered battery producers had submitted their annual returns for the time period 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.
Timber licences
OPSS implements and enforces the UK Timber Regulations (UKTR) and the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Regulations (FLEGT), on behalf of Defra. These regulations are designed to ensure harvesting practices are legal, encourage sustainable harvesting and support global forest governance. We undertake direct enforcement, awareness raising activities, testing and evidence handling, and FLEGT license verification.
Read the FLEGT report for 2022 to 2023.
Incident Management Team (IMT) allegations data
OPSS provides national incident response capability on nationally significant, novel or contentious product regulation issues. The incident management team hold data to track all allegations that come in to supplement the information on the PSD.
Lead officers are responsible for the quality and accuracy of the data they enter. Entries are updated with progress updates and additional information relevant to the allegation to allow users to track how cases are escalated and actions taken.
Status indicators are used to provide a broad indication of the latest position with the specific allegation identified, including marking it as resolved when the issue has been addressed.
Table 1: Allegations to OPSS Incident Management Team, 2022 to 2023
| Type | Number |
|---|---|
| Consumer products | 331 |
| Construction products | 38 |
| National incident response | 4 |
Source: OPSS IMT internal systems
Serious undesirable effect notifications
A ‘serious undesirable effect’ (“SUE”) is one in which the normal or reasonably foreseeable use of a cosmetic results in temporary or permanent functional incapacity, disability, hospitalisation, congenital anomalies or an immediate vital risk or death. Responsible persons and distributors are required to report SUEs resulting from the use of cosmetics to OPSS via email using the SUEs form. These forms are then collated by operational teams.
In 2022 to 2023, 86 SUE notifications were reported to OPSS, logged and triaged.
Border programme data
Ports and Borders consignment check data is collected from Local Authority Trading Standard officers by OPSS’ Border Profiling Unit using an Excel spreadsheet. A reminder email is sent out each month, requesting the data for interventions carried out previously, taking into account the time lag to enable results to be collected. For example, a reminder email sent in April will request February interventions data. Updates to data from previous months are encouraged. The data is commercially sensitive and personal (as the names/addresses of sellers etc can include private addresses).
The data is cleaned and collated by OPSS statisticians and used to produce a quarterly dashboard.
Local authorities may perform more than one check on a consignment if it contains different products and they usually only review a sample of goods in each consignment check.
Some local authorities only do desktop tests (not physical examinations). This means they will only find non-compliant products, not unsafe ones.
Table 2: Enforcement activity at ports and borders, 2022 to 2023, by quarter
| Quarter | Number of goods covered by consignment checks | Number of unsafe or non-compliant goods refused entry to the UK | Percentage refused entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 (April-June 2022) | 9,301,604 | 6,751,787 | 73% |
| Q2 (July-September 2022) | 3,645,969 | 1,280,942 | 35% |
| Q3 (October-December 2022) | 2,478,823 | 942,978 | 38% |
| Q4 (January-March 2023) | 2,687,426 | 1,064,085 | 40% |
| Total (2022-23) | 18,113,822 | 10,039,792 | 55% |
Source: OPSS Ports and borders data collection
Notes
- Usually Local Authorities only review a sample of goods in each consignment check.
- Excludes consignments where the results of checks are pending or unknown.
- Some Local Authorities only do desktop tests (not physical examinations). This means they will only find non-compliant products, not unsafe ones
- The number of goods covered by checks can vary from quarter to quarter depending on the consignments checked. Q1 had an unusually large consignment of PPE containing over 5m products.
Primary Authority data
The Primary Authority (PA) scheme allows businesses to receive assured and tailored advice on meeting environmental health, trading standards or fire safety regulations through direct or co-ordinated partnerships with local authorities, including fire and rescue authorities.
Local regulators can use this service to view, share or manage information on these partnerships, guiding enforcement work across the UK, while businesses or organisations representing them can view the details of their specific partnerships.
PA is administered and operated by OPSS and is utilised by more than 193 local authorities and continues to grow with over 130,000 businesses across the UK (3,167 direct and 128,063 in co-ordinated partnership) with many of these businesses such as retailers having thousands of premises across the UK.
Access the PA Register – It can be searched publicly for partnerships but a log-in is required to view the summary statistics.
Regulatory Information and Intelligence (RIIT) assessments
The team hold an Excel spreadsheet which is used to track their work compiling a range of different operational intelligence assessments, such as rapid assessments, summary profiles of businesses or products, sweeps and product or business profiles. Lead officers are responsible for the quality and accuracy of the data they enter. Entries are regularly updated with progress updates and additional information to allow users to track how work is escalated and actions taken.
During 2022 to 2023 the team produced 117 operational assessments.
Enforcement actions
OPSS exercises the powers of the Secretary of State in relation to a range of regulations. Our approach to addressing non-compliance by those we regulate, and potential product safety risks, is set out in our Enforcement Policy, which also sets out our approach to publishing details of our enforcement actions. Where enforcement action is taken in relation to an individual, details of that individual may be anonymised.
The enforcement actions taken by OPSS in 6-month periods are listed on GOV.UK. Actions are grouped under the following headings: Construction Products, Product Safety, and Timber. These actions are summarised for 2022 to 2023 in the Delivery report for:
- Recall Notices requiring unsafe products to be recalled from consumers
- Withdrawal Notices that required the seller to withdraw a product from the market
- Notices of Remedial Action
- Prohibition Notices served
Access our enforcement actions.
Further details
The Office for Product Safety and Standards is part of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). Our purpose is to make regulation work, so that it protects people and enables businesses to understand their obligations.
This publication was produced by the OPSS Statistics and Data Science Team. If you have any enquiries about the content please contact: OPSSanalysis@businessandtrade.gov.uk.