Corporate report

OPSS Delivery Report 2024-2025: Statistical Annex

Published 30 July 2025

July 2025

1) Purpose

This Annex presents further information on the statistics and metrics used in the OPSS Delivery Report 2024 to 2025. 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.

2) 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 Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) enforcement teams to notify unsafe and non-compliant products to the Secretary of State, as required by product safety legislation. ^{[footnote 1]}

Read the PSD report for 2023 to 2024 and accompanying methodology and quality report.

3) Enquiry Case Management System (ECMS)

ECMS is an 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 and additional information relevant to the case, allowing users to track actions taken.

The following information in the delivery report was sourced from ECMS:

• Ecodesign and energy labelling
• Legal metrology enforcement
• Local authority engagement
• Timber regulations compliance
• Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
• Access and benefit sharing (ABS)
• Heat networks
• Batteries and accumulators (placing on the market)
• Gas and electricity metering
• Electric vehicles and fuel labelling
• Construction products
• Restrictions on certain hazardous substances (RoHS)

4) Distributor Takeback

According to The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013, distributors (typically retailers) of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) have two options:

• provide in-store take-back of waste electrical equipment on a one-for-one, like-for-like basis, or
• enrol in the Distributor Takeback Scheme (DTS).

Valpak Retail WEEE Services manages the Distributor Takeback Scheme (DTS), which grants members an exemption from the obligation to accept in-store returns of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) when customers buy a new, equivalent item of electrical or electronic equipment (EEE).

Figures from this section were taken from the Phase 6 Distributor Takeback Scheme (DTS) Database, which is a real-time datasheet that summarises the current status of businesses that were not registered for Phase 6 DTS.

OPSS conducted checks to verify the trading status of these businesses and issued warning and follow-up letters as necessary. Compliance efforts included businesses offering their own take-back solutions or joining the DTS. Additionally, OPSS undertook compliance visits to ensure adherence to regulations. Records of letters sent, and visits carried out are maintained in internal records. Phase 6 of the scheme ran from 1 January 2022 until 31 December 2023.

5) 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

6) Incident Management Team (IMT) allegations data

OPSS provides a national incident response capability for nationally significant, novel, or contentious product regulation issues. The Incident Management Team (IMT) holds data to track all allegations received, supplementing the information on the PSD.

Allegations received by IMT are assessed and escalated in accordance with the published OPSS Incident Management Plan. Issues that are assessed as potentially meeting incident triggers and where OPSS may take the lead can be escalated through the Case Assessment and Monitoring Escalation Protocol (CAM-EP). This protocol coordinates the gathering of further information and supports a decision on whether further escalation to a national incident response is required.

Read the OPSS Incident Management Plan.

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, allowing users to track how cases are escalated and what actions are taken.

Status indicators provide a broad indication of the latest position regarding each specific allegation, including marking it as resolved when the issue has been addressed.

Table 1: Allegations to OPSS Incident Management Team, 2024 to 2025

Type	Number
Consumer products	446
Construction products	101
Case Assessment and Monitoring Escalation Protocol (CAM-EP)	5
National incident response	0

Source: OPSS IMT internal systems

7) 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.

Access the SUEs form.

In 2024 to 2025, 69 SUE notifications were reported to OPSS, logged and triaged.

8) Ecodesign and energy labelling

Consumers rely on products to comply with applicable regulations and to be accurately labelled in terms of energy usage. Throughout the year, efforts concentrated on various product types, targeting areas with previous non-compliance and addressing industry concerns.

Product visual examinations and technical file assessments were conducted across various products. Technical file assessments involve reviewing the documentation that manufacturers must provide to demonstrate that their products meet regulatory requirements. Future projects will review businesses’ actions to ensure compliance. Figures in this section are mainly recorded on the Enquiry Case Management System (ECMS). The technical file assessments undertaken are recorded in internal spreadsheets relating to each product type.

9) Border programme data

Ports and borders consignment check data are collected from Local Authority Trading Standards 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).

Table 2: Enforcement activity at ports and borders, 2024 to 2025, 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 2024)	3,745,070	464,398	12%
Q2 (July-September 2024)	5,564,461	489,582	9%
Q3 (October-December 2024)	1,692,358	305,491	18%
Q4 (January-March 2025)	3,108,558	1,368,336	44%
Total (2024-25)	14,110,447	2,627,807	19%

Source: OPSS ports and borders data collection

Notes

1. Usually local authorities only review a sample of goods in each consignment check.
2. Excludes consignments where the results of checks are pending or unknown.
3. Some local authorities only do desktop tests (not physical examinations).
4. The number of goods covered by checks can vary from quarter to quarter depending on the consignments checked.

10) Value of markets analysis

The Economics team at OPSS have estimated the value of the markets that are regulated by OPSS.

In 2024, it was estimated that there were 310,585 businesses in scope of OPSS regulation, representing 11% of the total UK business population. The combined turnover of these businesses is estimated at £519 billion (with low estimates of £306bn, and high estimates of £732bn). OPSS also carries out enforcement activity for Construction Products with an estimated turnover at £103bn (with low estimates of £58bn, and high estimates of £148bn); Hallmarked Jewellery estimated at £9.9bn (with low estimates of £5.8bn, and high estimates of £14bn). These figures are estimated using the 2024 edition of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK business size and activity dataset. ^{[footnote 2]} Furthermore, OPSS is responsible for enforcing regulations in Metered Heat and Energy which is estimated at £71.4bn for electricity and £46.1bn for gas. ^{[footnote 3]}

Value and size of OPSS markets / construction products / hallmarked jewellery

To estimate the value of OPSS regulated markets, we have utilised ONS Business Size and Activity Turnover Data (2024). ^{[footnote 2]} This dataset groups UK VAT-paying businesses by their business activity using Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. ONS SIC codes were mapped to approximately 30 different regulations, creating a ‘business populations’ list. These were further mapped to OPSS regulations by OPSS policy experts. The ONS provides business turnover data in bands rather than at individual business level. As such, each business is assigned an annual turnover range, and the total turnover for all businesses cannot be precisely determined. The central estimate uses the midpoint of each band to approximate total turnover for all businesses within OPSS SIC codes. High and low estimates apply the lowest and highest value of each band respectively. The final band (£50,000+) uses £50,000 turnover for all scenarios and is likely to underestimate as a result.

The same ONS dataset ^{[footnote 2]} contains the number of businesses in each turnover band. These figures can be mapped directly to the SIC codes which are within scope of OPSS regulation. These estimates are therefore not presented as a range unlike the value of markets.

To maintain consistency with figures presented in previous publications, OPSS analysts have separated the SIC codes relating to the construction sector and hallmarked jewellery to provide separate estimates for these two sectors. The same methodology is applied here as for the total value and size of OPSS Markets.

Metered heat networks

Research from The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) estimates household spending on gas and electricity was £46.1bn and £71.4bn respectively in 2023. ^{[footnote 3]} As these figures are derived using a different methodology, they should not be combined with estimates on the value OPSS markets, construction products, or hallmarked jewellery.

Caveats

a. The figures provided use turnover as a proxy for market value. These are however not equivalent and should not be treated as interchangeable.

b. While the ONS provides information on the business activities associated with each SIC code group, this classification is not granular. This means matching based on SIC code descriptions may therefore have limited accuracy.

c. Figures from external sources have been where publicly available but they may not have been analysed to the same level of scrutiny as ONS data.

d. For the estimated total market value for metered electricity, electricity used in public lighting and the transport sector has been excluded, as a significant (but unknown) portion of electricity used for these two areas is unmetered. The figure provided refers to 2023, as a 2024 figure has not yet been released by DESNZ.

11) OPSS Consumer Surveys

These trackers, called waves, seek to build on a body of existing research and evidence in this area, including the Consumer attitudes to product safety study. They aim to benchmark and measure various key objectives of OPSS as well as filling evidence gaps for various policy topics.

Read the Consumer attitudes to product safety study.

To support these objectives, OPSS commissioned YouGov to understand and monitor consumers’ awareness and attitudes of product safety, their attitudes towards the product safety regulatory system, and understanding of different organisations concerned with product safety.

The study represents one of the largest of its type and provides invaluable insight into thousands of experiences of how people perceive the safety of products and handle any safety issues they face.

The wave 8 findings are based on a large-scale representative sample of 10,060 people from across the United Kingdom (UK) collected through online research methods. Fieldwork was carried out between 1 July and 19 July 2024. A supporting survey of 261 people who are very low or non-internet users was conducted via telephone between 11 July and 3 August 2024.

Where appropriate, comparisons have been made with survey data from previous waves. Not all sections or questions are asked in every survey. The technical report contains details of wave-on-wave questionnaire design and section inclusion.

The wave 8 of the tracking report includes topical policy examining areas such as online purchasing, e-labelling, personal light electric vehicles (PLEV’s) and smart devices / cybersecurity.

After the close of the online survey, 4 text-based online focus groups were conducted with survey participants. Participants had a mix of e-bike or e-scooter ownership, and two of the groups was conducted with those who experienced issues with their e-bikes or e-scooters.

The survey included a mix of age, social grade, genders, ethnicities, and locations. There were between 10-12 participants per group, each group lasted 90 minutes. Participants were asked to respond to an open-ended question as part of the recruitment criteria to ensure that participants were able to communicate effectively enough to participate in text-based research. Participants were incentivised via retail vouchers, in line with the MRS Code of Conduct.

Read the OPSS product safety and consumers Wave 8 report.

12) Section 70 Weights and Measures (Legal Metrology)

Under Section 70 of the Weights and 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 2024-2025 and accompanying methodology and quality report.

13) Fires in e-bikes and e-scooters

Fires in e-bikes and e-scooters report provides an overview of the fires involving e-scooters and e-bikes reported to OPSS. It examines data from the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) across the UK, with a focus on product-related fires associated with lithium-ion battery risks. The data is submitted on a voluntary basis using a product related fire notification (PFN) form. Additionally, London Fire Brigade provides further information directly to OPSS. The report covers incidents reported in 2024.

Read the Fires in e-bikes and e-scooters – 2024 report.

14) Product safety testing sampling protocol programme

Read the OPSS product safety sampling protocol programme: April 2020 – March 2024.

15) Primary Authority

Primary Authority, administered by the OPSS, enables businesses, including charities and franchises, to form partnerships with a single local authority or Fire and Rescue Service. Through these partnerships, businesses receive assured and consistent regulatory advice that must be respected by other regulators, supporting better compliance and reducing duplication. The scheme supports improved relationships between regulators and businesses and contributes to local economic growth.

Work is ongoing to enhance data collection and reporting on the scheme’s operation. A new system is expected to be introduced in late 2026, which may impact the numbers reported in future time periods.

Following publication of the 2022 to 2023 delivery report, some minor errors were identified with the number of businesses that were participating in the primary authority. The numbers have been updated to appropriately reflect the estimated number of businesses taking part in the scheme.

16) 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 Data Analysis and Evidence Strategy Team. If you have any enquiries about the content please contact OPSSAnalysis@businessandtrade.gov.uk.

Footnotes

1. General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR), Regulation on Accreditation and Market Surveillance (RAMS), and Market Surveillance and Compliance of Products Regulation 2019/1020. ↩

2. UK business: activity, size and location, 2024 edition, table 9 – ONS website ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES): energy – table 1.3 ↩ ↩²