Chamber and committees

I just want to be clear. I do not want you to talk around my point, if you do not mind. Are you okay with the notion that, whatever we do here, there will potentially be more use of fireworks, if Norman Donald is correct, and that it is okay to have a framework that says that people can have fireworks all year round, albeit within certain periods, and that relies on people to be kind to their neighbours? Might we not be back where we started, if there was no way of curbing that?

Thank you. On that point, I am trying to get my head around the concept of legal and illegal fireworks. Could you tell the police the difference?

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies across government will support people living in Glasgow to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00901)

A report that was published last week by PWC said that Glasgow had slower growth than Aberdeen and Edinburgh in 2021, and that that would continue this year. The United Kingdom average growth across 50 cities that were measured in the report was 7.4 per cent, but, worryingly, Glasgow is at only 4.4. per cent.

Yesterday, the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee published an excellent report. It highlighted that the bosses of AGS Airports, which own Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, have said that the pandemic

“has ... set us back decades”,

not just because of

“loss of passengers”,

but because of

“loss of connectivity”

to the whole of Glasgow and its city region.

What more evidence does the Government need that Glasgow is in trouble and needs more assistance and special attention? Will the Government elaborate on what intervention it would make to help the Glasgow city region?

The case of Scott Storey, who was out on licence after committing murder, and who had changed his name, is a prime example of the need to constantly review our law. The cabinet secretary mentioned Clare’s law and the domestic violence disclosure scheme, which requires women to make an inquiry.

Could the cabinet secretary clarify today, or in writing to me, whether it is an offence not to disclose a new relationship? There is a requirement for people to tell their social worker, but is it an offence not to do so? Should that be reviewed? Should there also, perhaps, be a review of Clare’s law to consider whether to allow police officers to directly inform women who find themselves in a relationship with an ex-offender?

That answer is helpful.

I know that some members have questions about exclusion zones, and I do not want to cross into that. However, given what you have said, it seems obvious that exclusion zones might be the only way in which the system could work, as it would not be easy to use the complex rules in the licensing scheme to control or stop antisocial behaviour.

I represent the city of Glasgow, and Pollokshields is notorious for fireworks misuse. I am not confident that all those cases are being prosecuted—reporting is another issue. Is it your understanding that that is the kind of area in which an exclusion zone might be used? If it is not, then how will we use the legislation to home in on a serious misuse of fireworks in some communities beyond 5 November?

I am interested in how easy it will be to enforce a licensing scheme, with further restrictions on sales and the types of fireworks that people can buy.

I have a question for Chief Inspector Robison. There have been many incidents of fireworks being used at celebrations of football match results and at other events. A view could be taken of whether that amounts to antisocial behaviour. Some people think that there should be a complete ban, so we must be able to make the legislation work. In order to make the scheme work, would we have to have robust reporting of use of fireworks outwith designated periods, regardless of whether that use amounted to antisocial behaviour, or would Police Scotland take the view that it would not be worth pursuing such cases?

Where I am coming from is this: in order to make the scheme work, if people are to be allowed to use fireworks on 37 days of the year, they would, in my view, have to be prosecuted for use of fireworks outwith those days. At the moment, fireworks are probably being let off illegally all the time. We have all heard them when there have been victory celebrations. That is certainly true in my city.

I am going off on a slight tangent, here. There have been responses from the public with people telling pet owners—of whom I am one—that they should just train their animals to deal with times when fireworks are being let off. Such people clearly do not know anything about what it is like to protect an animal that is frightened, or a child with autism—on whose situation we received evidence at last week’s meeting.

I take the view that letting off fireworks outwith specified periods—even if it does not amount to antisocial behaviour—should still be dealt with. Is that Police Scotland’s view?

So far, from the evidence that I have heard, we can fully understand why everybody opted for a licensing scheme and not a complete ban. As Chief Inspector Robison and others have said, we do not want to spoil people’s enjoyment. However, there are still pretty serious antisocial behaviour incidents that we want to get under control.

One of my main worries is that, so far, the system seems to be quite complex. There would be certain days and certain times when people could not use fireworks, so the public would need to be clear on that, because they are the ones on whom the police would rely to report that there had been an offence. That is one of my primary concerns.

Like Rona Mackay, as she outlined in her line of questioning, I do not favour a ban. However, I ask myself whether a ban would be easier to police, because the proposed system seems to be pretty complex. My first question is for Chief Inspector Nicola Robison. How confident are you, given the complexity of a licensing scheme, and all that has been said, that the bill would actually tackle the antisocial behaviour element of the misuse of fireworks?

Roads in Glasgow city centre were closed early this year ahead of the filming of the new “Batgirl” movie. That filming is said to have decimated trade for many businesses, which, as the cabinet secretary will be aware, struggled after lockdown and the quite severe restrictions that were in place over Christmas. One owner of a bar and restaurant said that they had lost up to £10,000-worth of business. Another business—a clothing shop—closed for a week as a result of the low footfall because of the road closures. Those businesses were offered £30 a day from Warner Bros.

The city council offered an incentive to the production company of £150,000. Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is wrong to offer financial incentives to production companies without making that conditional on ensuring that businesses are adequately compensated for losses in trade? Surely that will be a very important principle as we try to recover from the pandemic, in order to ensure that those businesses have a chance to recover.

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it provides to Glasgow businesses that have been impacted by a loss of earnings as a result of street closures due to a variety of recent projects. (S6O-00874)