Public Houses (Electrical Safety) Bill
Motion for leave to bring in a Bill (Standing Order No. 23)
(Romford) (Con)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require public houses
to have annual electrical safety tests; to make associated
provision about licensing, insurance and enforcement; and for
connected purposes.
The Bill is vital—it will save lives. Had it been on the statute
book earlier, the life of Harvey Tyrrell, a young boy from
Romford who died in tragic circumstances, would have been saved.
The Bill is designed to ensure that the circumstances of Harvey’s
death will never be repeated. Harvey must not have died in vain.
I dedicate the Bill to his name.
Harvey was a wonderful young seven-year-old boy who brought joy
to all those around him. He had a passion for singing, dancing
and playing sport, and he had a particular love of football.
While I never had the privilege of meeting him, I know from those
who did that he was a kind and caring young boy who would always
look out for others and be there to support his family and
friends. Following Harvey’s death, I spent time speaking with his
mother, Danielle, who recounted many stories of her and Harvey
endlessly laughing at the many jokes he would tell. By all
accounts he was a lovely young lad with a wonderful future ahead
of him, but his life was cruelly and suddenly taken away.
On 11 September 2018, Harvey and his mother went out for a pub
lunch, as is such a great and treasured tradition, particularly
in our beloved county of Essex. Tragically, Harvey did not come
home that day. I am ashamed to say that the King Harold—a pub in
the Harold Hill area of Romford, just over the border in the
Hornchurch and Upminster constituency—was a death trap. When
Harvey innocently placed his hand on a metal railing, electricity
surged through his body. The horrified patrons of the pub could
only watch as Harvey collapsed, before running over to help him.
Paramedics were called and Harvey was rushed to hospital, but,
tragically, he was later pronounced dead.
It was a deeply sad day for the Harold Hill and Harold Wood
community, for Romford and for the whole borough of Havering. I
thank Councillor Brian Eagling, Councillor Darren Wise and
Councillor Martin Goode—the local councillors for the area—for
the enormous support and kindness they showed to Harvey’s family.
They were instrumental in working with me to ensure that the Bill
could be placed before the House. Harvey’s death was completely
avoidable and we must act now to ensure that such a wicked loss
of life in these circumstances never happens again.
In the months prior to that horrific event, it was reported that
the landlord had been electrocuted while on the premises and
that, instead of resolving the issue, he joked with the regulars
in the pub about the faulty wiring. That was a completely
unacceptable way to operate a business. The safety of customers
should always be at the forefront of an owner’s mind. Had the
owner of the King Harold been conscious of safety or followed
existing legislation, young Harvey would still be with us
today.
Inspections in the aftermath of Harvey’s death revealed the true
extent of the danger that customers faced when entering the pub.
It was found that there were 12 defects at the pub, which posed a
risk of injury, including by electric shock, and 32 potentially
dangerous defects. It was also found that the faulty lights that
had caused the metal pole to become electrified were attached to
an unmetered supply, from which the pub owner had been stealing
electricity.
During the trial of the owner of the King Harold, an expert
described the pub as
“the most dangerous thing he had seen in 40 years”
and said that he was
“horrified the owner was able to ignore health and safety
regulations, dodge his duty to seek planning permission for
building projects and didn’t care about the dangers in the
pub.”
So I am glad that the owner of the King Harold and his
brother-in-law, who was responsible for the electrics in the pub,
were both jailed for their involvement in this awful
incident.
However, those sentences could not bring Harvey back to his
mother, his family and his friends and there is no safeguard in
place to stop that kind of incident happening again. As it
currently stands, regulation of electrical safety in pubs is not
fit for purpose. It is covered by regulation 4 of the Electricity
at Work Regulations 1989. This regulation requires businesses to
ensure that electrical installations are constructed and
maintained in a way that prevents danger. That includes having
the installations regularly tested and keeping a record of this.
However, at the moment, it is down to the duty holder within the
business to provide the relevant checks. There are no
organisations, whether Government or private, monitoring whether
pubs have complied with that standard.
Customers must be able to enter a pub with the confidence that
they are not at any risk of injury—surely a basic requirement
that any business should adhere to. In the light of the
catastrophic events surrounding Harvey’s death, I believe that we
must urgently act to strengthen the enforcement of electrical
safety standards throughout the United Kingdom. That is why, with
Harvey Tyrrell’s law—the Public Houses (Electrical Safety) Bill—I
am proposing comprehensive measures to ensure that customers can
enter pubs with the confidence that they will be safe from
injury.
My Bill would require pub owners to get the electrical systems in
their pubs checked a minimum of every five years, to bring pubs
in line with the regulations on electrical safety checks in
rental properties. The Bill also requires safety tests to be
conducted by a qualified person, such as a registered
electrician, thus creating confidence for the pub owner and the
customers that the checks have been followed correctly and that
electrical systems are safe.
An electrical safety certification should also be linked to the
pub’s alcohol licence and the local authority would have to do no
more than check that the pub owner had submitted the
documentation proving that their premises had been tested for
electrical safety before approving an alcohol licence.
I know that many hard-working pub owners would welcome those
proposals, which improve everyone’s safety, including their own.
I am a huge supporter of the great English pub and want pubs to
remain at the heart of our community, so I am not seeking to
create unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy, but we must ensure
that they are places where people can enjoy themselves in safety.
I believe that the measures I have outlined in the Bill, Harvey
Tyrrell’s law, will successfully achieve this and I call upon Her
Majesty’s Government to act swiftly in this regard.
My Bill will create a firm framework to ensure that the shocking
events that surrounded the death of young Harvey are never
repeated. It will keep people safe and prevent needless loss of
life. I commend it to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That , , , Sir , , , , , , , and present the Bill.
accordingly presented the
Bill.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 21
January 2022 and to be printed (Bill 181).
