Chamber and committees

As I have just said, it is an operational issue for Police Scotland. The Scottish Government protects the right to peaceful public assembly and freedom of expression, which are important rights that the Scottish Government is committed to upholding.

Absolutely. As I said in my opening statement, I thank the emergency services for all the work that they do on operation moonbeam, which goes on for months before bonfire night. Of course, we will engage with Police Scotland about its budgetary requirements.

I agree that it would be better if all the legislation relating to fireworks and pyrotechnics were devolved to Scotland, so that we could fully respond to the needs and concerns of Scottish communities. In that way, we would have full control of all aspects of the sale and use of fireworks, including, potentially, limits to the noise that fireworks make. As that is not the case at the moment, I will continue to press the United Kingdom Government on what more can be done on firework regulation, and I have sought further discussions on that issue.

The rights to peaceful public assembly and freedom of expression are important rights that the Scottish Government is committed to upholding.

The right to peaceful public assembly allows us to protest, celebrate culture and hold memorials, and it is right that our communities should be able to participate in such activities. The right to protest is important in a democratic society. Existing legislation sufficiently protects those rights. However, protests should be peaceful and should never be used to justify any form of hateful, violent, intimidating or otherwise criminal behaviour. We fully support Police Scotland’s taking appropriate and proportionate action in response to such behaviour.

I do not know how that relates to peaceful protest, Deputy Presiding Officer, so I will leave it at that.

We are committed to protecting survivors of domestic abuse through legislation and by funding support services. Research has found that our groundbreaking domestic abuse legislation, which treats offences more seriously when they involve children, better reflects victims’ experiences. Our £20 million bairn’s hoose programme, which is to be rolled out in increments from 2027, improves support for children who are affected by abuse by providing trauma-informed spaces and co-ordinated services.

I fully recognise that the proscription of Palestine Action by the UK Government has been criticised by many groups and individuals across society, and that many people across the UK have chosen to show their opposition to that through protest. However, as the member is aware, this is an area of policy that is reserved to the UK Government, as is the decision to which he refers, and I recognise that the issue is now with the courts. The judicial review is due to take place this month at the High Court in London, and we all want to see what the outcome will be.

Local authorities now have the powers to introduce firework control zones to tackle the misuse of fireworks, and I am pleased that, this year, they were in place in Glasgow for the first time and in Edinburgh for the second time. I also welcome the overall significant reduction in disorder across Scotland over the bonfire night period. Firework control zones played a role as part of a wider package of measures that were delivered by our partners, and I thank them all for the dedication and commitment that they have shown to keeping our communities safe. We will bring partners together to identify learnings from this year that will help to inform our approach to bonfire night in 2026.

Yes, absolutely. As I said, firework control zones have been in place for the past two bonfire nights. The designation of a zone is a local decision, based on local circumstances, and local authorities are responsible for their introduction and use.

Through the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, we have given local authorities additional powers to tackle the misuse of fireworks in response to local community needs. Along with the broader measures, firework control zones are an important tool that can be used to help keep communities safe and to support cultural and behavioural change to address the misuse of fireworks.

I encourage all local authorities to consider the introduction of firework control zones. I believe that there is a strong appetite for that in communities across Scotland—for example, I know that there is a petition with more than 1,600 signatures for the introduction of such zones in Ayr. The Scottish Government will support local authorities that wish to implement firework control zones.

I have not had any discussions with or correspondence from the UK Government. I think that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs has, and she will be happy to write to the member with regard to that.