Chamber and committees

There are well-established processes for enforcing the existing regulations. I return to my previous point that the legislation is an attempt to change primarily the way in which we buy fireworks and to a lesser extent the way in which we use them.

As I said, an immense amount of work goes into preparing for the run-up to bonfire night. As the committee may have heard, it is no longer just one night—it has turned into a season that is spread out over a longer period. Once fireworks get into the hands of people who are intent on misusing them, there is a much bigger challenge for us in dealing with that. The legislation in front of the committee is an attempt to go some way towards addressing that. I think that, once we see a change in how we use fireworks and in the culture of their use, that will, over time, have an impact on enforcement.

There were quite a few parts to your question. I will try to cover all those points, but you can come back to me if I do not cover them all. You asked about existing legislation and, in particular, the issue of under-18s. There is already UK legislation on that—it is currently illegal to supply fireworks on a commercial basis to those who are under 18. However, we have heard—I do not know whether the committee has heard this—significant anecdotal evidence that parents, and certainly adults, are purchasing fireworks and supplying them to children. The proxy purchasing offence was developed in order to close that loophole. Children will not be criminalised at all, but the provision is an attempt to hold those adults to account for that. It also ensures that we are limiting where fireworks potentially end up. Fireworks are explosive devices, and we want to be careful about who is able to use them.

In addition, the measures in the bill give us the opportunity to intervene at an earlier stage. We can then prevent some of the issues that many of us see in our constituencies from happening.

Does Elinor Findlay want to add anything on that point?

I think that I have already answered that question, and I have been quite clear about it. With regard to proceedings, it is up to our independent court service how it chooses to take things forward. We can give that information to the committee.

I come back to the point that I was trying to make earlier. I am not sure that the scale of the problem is reflected in the way that Jamie Greene is trying to characterise it. The evidence that the review group and the Government looked at included emergency services incident data, for example. That evidence includes the volume of firework-related incidents that were reported to the police, and data on attacks on emergency service workers, which tells us that there is a spike in attacks on fire crews over the bonfire period. I know that Jamie Greene has a personal interest in that issue, and I am sure that he would be keen to see an improvement in those figures. Around 40 per cent of those acts of violence happen around the bonfire night period. I am sure that Jamie Greene would say that we should take that evidence very seriously—

I will let Elinor Findlay come in and give that information again. We have already given that information—it has been freely available and was published by the Government several years ago, and we have said that we will share it with the committee.

I agree with that, but first I will respond to your point that people who use fireworks antisocially are unlikely to apply for a licence. Previously, they would just go into a shop and buy the fireworks or—we have anecdotal evidence on this—adults would buy the fireworks for them if they were under the age of 18.

I was in Pollokshields with a group of boys, who I think were between the ages of 15 and 17, who had been involved in antisocial behaviour with fireworks. I sat with them while they were going through a programme that was being run specifically in the area for people who had been involved in antisocial behaviour with fireworks. The programme was about safety, the law and how to use fireworks appropriately. When we change the legislation, we hope that people who are under 18 will not be able to just go to the shop to buy fireworks. In addition, hopefully, their parents will understand that they are not allowed to buy fireworks to give to under-18s. Therefore, I hope that the legislation will bring right down the numbers for the spontaneous purchasing of fireworks for antisocial use.

A lot of work has been done in Pollokshields. I have seen some of it for myself. I do not remember when I went there; it was probably more than two years ago because it was before the pandemic. I can try to find out a little more about that programme. That example comes from the non-court disposal side of things. We will try to get more information from the Crown Office to answer your question.

Collette Stevenson makes a good point. I am really interested in that. We can all see that reduced-noise or silent fireworks, while not addressing misuse, would go a long way towards addressing concerns about noise disturbance. There can be sporadic noise over quite a long period, which can be very disturbing for people who have animals.

We looked into that. Industry experts advised us that, at present, there is no recognised standard or specification to identify or distinguish lower-noise fireworks. I think that the industry might be working on that; Elinor Findlay might be able to say more. It is an interesting development that could be beneficial. In an attempt to future proof the bill, we have put in the ability to update it. Should it become possible to identify and use low-noise fireworks, we will be able to update the bill on that accordingly.

Elinor, do you have anything to add?

That is a good line of questioning. We anticipate that the majority of it will be done online. Most people are able to do that now and it is a highly efficient method. However, we will have a paper-based alternative for people who are not able to access or use an online method. Perhaps Elinor Findlay could add more detail.

In answer to your first question, we have seen the industry’s 10-point plan. Some of it does not relate specifically to the Scottish Government—I think that it contains action points for the United Kingdom Government—but there are some interesting things in there.

I met representatives of the industry about two weeks ago, to listen to what they had to say and to take on board their views. Of course, the industry was also part of the review group, so it has been involved in the process from the very start, although I accept that it did not support the group’s final recommendations and that it has some concerns about the bill.

I am sorry—what was your second question?

I am just asking my official to look out the relevant sheet of paper. Sorry—I have so many pieces of paper in my pack; it is really difficult to find the one that I need at the right time.

We looked into the issue of stockpiling. We do not want stockpiling to happen, because we all understand the inherent dangers of storing large amounts of explosives if it is not done correctly. The permitted days of use extend slightly beyond when fireworks can be supplied. That has been done because we want to avoid a situation in which, say, someone buys fireworks at the very end of the supply period—for example, because they are planning to have a fireworks event in their garden—but they cannot use them because the weather is appalling or something else happens. We do not want them to store the fireworks until the next period during which they can use them. Therefore, we have added in a period of grace to prevent that from happening.

There does not seem to be an awful lot of evidence that stockpiling might be a problem, but we want to keep an eye on it. At the moment, at new year, there is a fairly short period of time during which people can use fireworks. Therefore, we already have some experience of dealing with a fairly short period of time for the use of fireworks, and we do not see much stockpiling in that case. However, we intend to keep an eye on it. Elinor, do you have anything to add on stockpiling?

On balance, taking all the provisions across the bill, I think that it achieves the aim of being fair and proportionate. With regard to the example that you use, I would say that there is quite adequate provision across the year for people to use fireworks, but I completely accept your point that that might not align with an individual’s desire to use fireworks on a day when, if the Parliament agrees to the bill, they would not be able to do so. However, I think that there is enough flexibility in the bill to allow the use of fireworks—for example, through public displays, as you mention.

The issue relates in part to Fulton MacGregor’s point about local authorities, because some areas have specific days that are important to them. If one such day falls within a restricted period, a community group could hire a professional display company, and the cost could be mitigated by spreading it across a number of people. However, we have to look at the bill as a whole with regard to what we are trying to do. The provisions have been specifically designed to enable us to consider the evidence, ensure that we do not create too many unintended consequences and meet the public’s desire for the misuse of fireworks to be reduced. On balance, the bill does what it was intended to do.

There are no other age-restricted products, including air weapons, that require people to be a minimum age greater than 18 to purchase them.