Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Tuesday 3rd November 2026
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14:27
14:27
Liam Byrne
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Liam Byrne
You get most of the complaints about fireworks on on pets. So we've got three sorts of evidence. We've got evidence from pet owners. And there's been a large number of surveys done by organisations like the RSPCA, Dogs Trust, Red wings and that that finds that probably for horses, about 60% of horse owners are concerned about firework use on on their animals. With dogs, it goes down a little bit from 40 to 60% with cats, cats protection say it's around 40 to 60% as well. So, so we know that that there's a body of evidence showing that owners themselves are very worried about the impacts of that.
We now have some pretty good scientific studies. University of Utrecht has done some good scientific studies on the impact of fireworks on dogs and horses, and we know the impact on farm animals, for instance, dairy cattle. There's been studies that show milk yields go down. If you have firework displays next to next to dairy cattle. And interestingly enough, there is one piece of legislation on pigs the welfare of farmed animals, which states that you can't have loud noise next to pigs over 85dB. So that's already legislation. And of course, with fireworks, we're discussing bringing the noise level down from 120 to 110.
We now have some pretty good scientific studies. University of Utrecht has done some good scientific studies on the impact of fireworks on dogs and horses, and we know the impact on farm animals, for instance, dairy cattle. There's been studies that show milk yields go down. If you have firework displays next to next to dairy cattle. And interestingly enough, there is one piece of legislation on pigs the welfare of farmed animals, which states that you can't have loud noise next to pigs over 85dB. So that's already legislation. And of course, with fireworks, we're discussing bringing the noise level down from 120 to 110.
14:28
14:28
Liam Byrne
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Liam Byrne
So so the the the RSPCA gets a number of complaints in every year. I would say that those have been pretty static. However, the the surveys that say, for instance, Red wings have done shows that you're talking about a large number of complaints, 1400 complaints in a in a survey that they did, including not just hundreds of injuries, but also some some deaths as well of, of horses. So yes, it's probably increasing, but it's, it's difficult to actually assess that.
14:29
Speaker 1
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Speaker 1
Okay. When I'm out and about in my constituency and I had this conversation with the good people on the doors of shard End recently over the last couple of weeks, the real issue that people have got in my constituency is that this is year round. Now. We've got fireworks going off all the time. I mean, is that something that you get reported to you?
14:29
14:29
14:29
Liam Byrne
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Liam Byrne
No. But then there's an enforcement issue that that that goes into that. And and I think there is a reasonable discussion to be had as to whether there is enough money going into enforcement to actually enforce the legislation at the moment, and whether the the use the illegal or the anti-social behaviour, use of fireworks has, has increased.
14:30
Speaker 1
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Speaker 1
The only enforcement we've got in East Birmingham during the night is the priority response teams who are dealing with like the most serious of crimes. And that is after several years of reinvesting in front line policing. I mean, we're never going to have the enforcement. well powers on the ground to deal with fireworks that are going off at one, two, 3:00 in the morning.
14:30
Liam Byrne
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Liam Byrne
If you look at if you look at certain countries which have banned fireworks, and there are a number of countries that have , Australia is a very good example. New Zealand is looking at more, more, more restrictions. Germany, Denmark, they are all countries which have moved towards having greater restrictions. And in all of those countries, Ireland is another good example. They they license fireworks from 2005. In all of those countries, there was an increase in enforcement in the next. The following sort of 3 or 4 years, and then it plateaued and then anti-social behaviour has dropped off.
So if you go to a place like New South Wales in Australia, where fireworks have been illegal since 1987, there are also states which still allow fireworks in Australia. But actually talking to the RSPCA in New South Wales there is very little anti-social behaviour. There is very little abuse of fireworks against animals and that problem has essentially been solved.
So if you go to a place like New South Wales in Australia, where fireworks have been illegal since 1987, there are also states which still allow fireworks in Australia. But actually talking to the RSPCA in New South Wales there is very little anti-social behaviour. There is very little abuse of fireworks against animals and that problem has essentially been solved.
14:30
14:30
Speaker 2
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Speaker 2
Yes. Thank you. So for those who aren't aware, Combat Stress is the UK's leading charity for armed forces mental health. We specialise in providing treatment and support for members of the Armed Forces community who have post-traumatic stress disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. The latest Census of England and Wales reported just over 1.8 million people who identify themselves as veterans in England and Wales. We teamed up with help for heroes a couple of years ago to survey the veteran community to understand their thoughts and feelings around the use of fireworks. 23% of the respondents to that survey said that they personally have felt negatively impacted by the use of fireworks.
The latest research from King's College, who've been doing a longitudinal study for a couple of decades, concluded that the current rate of probable PTSD in the veteran community is around 10%. So we find, particularly at this time of year, an increase in calls to our helpline. We operate a 24 over 7365 mental health helpline. We see about a 10% increase in calls to that line in October and November. And in the clinical therapy setting, we see the nature of the conversations that our clinicians are having with veterans turning towards the trauma and the anxiety and the distress that's been caused by fireworks.
We recognize that fireworks are an important part of culture in many ways. What veterans talk to us about in terms of what they feel that they that they need. It's quite simple, really. It's the ability to plan. It's the ability to prepare. So the clinical service that our teams provide works very well. So the veterans that come to us and receive treatment for PTSD, over 70% of them actually recover. What that means, however, is that up to 30% don't achieve that recovery threshold. Now, recovery means different things for different people. But from a clinical perspective, that means that they don't reach the clinical threshold for a diagnosis of PTSD when they've when they've recovered.
The latest research from King's College, who've been doing a longitudinal study for a couple of decades, concluded that the current rate of probable PTSD in the veteran community is around 10%. So we find, particularly at this time of year, an increase in calls to our helpline. We operate a 24 over 7365 mental health helpline. We see about a 10% increase in calls to that line in October and November. And in the clinical therapy setting, we see the nature of the conversations that our clinicians are having with veterans turning towards the trauma and the anxiety and the distress that's been caused by fireworks.
We recognize that fireworks are an important part of culture in many ways. What veterans talk to us about in terms of what they feel that they that they need. It's quite simple, really. It's the ability to plan. It's the ability to prepare. So the clinical service that our teams provide works very well. So the veterans that come to us and receive treatment for PTSD, over 70% of them actually recover. What that means, however, is that up to 30% don't achieve that recovery threshold. Now, recovery means different things for different people. But from a clinical perspective, that means that they don't reach the clinical threshold for a diagnosis of PTSD when they've when they've recovered.
14:30
Speaker 1
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Speaker 1
I mean, at this point about predictability is super important because , you know, where we are in Birmingham, it's completely unpredictable now. I mean, you've just got fireworks going on whenever there is, you know, a random family celebration. Like that's completely unpredictable and it's constant and it's all the way through the night. It's a nightmare for people.
14:30
Speaker 2
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Speaker 2
Yeah. That's right. And so we hear from in fact, I was hearing from a veteran relatively recently, Pete, who used to spend pretty much the whole month of October and November just in isolation, extremely distressed. He would he would talk about finding himself just curled up in a ball on the floor, because it was the random nature of fireworks going off . One of the important kind of symptom clusters that we see with PTSD is re-experiencing. We also see hypervigilance hyperarousal constantly being on edge, and that re-experiencing can be triggered by all sorts of different stimuli.
It's different for everyone, but you know, it can be the loud bangs, the whistles, all the noises that come with with fireworks. Another veteran who we've worked with, she was shot multiple times by an AK 47. She said nothing quite sounds like an AK 47 other than fireworks going off. It's that crackle sound that you get. Others talk about the smell, that gunpowder smell that can be triggered, the the sudden flashes of light as well. So all of that combining can lead to situations where, you know, you know, you're in Birmingham, but you feel like you're back in Basra.
And that's the and that's the experience that is running through every, every nerve in your body.
It's different for everyone, but you know, it can be the loud bangs, the whistles, all the noises that come with with fireworks. Another veteran who we've worked with, she was shot multiple times by an AK 47. She said nothing quite sounds like an AK 47 other than fireworks going off. It's that crackle sound that you get. Others talk about the smell, that gunpowder smell that can be triggered, the the sudden flashes of light as well. So all of that combining can lead to situations where, you know, you know, you're in Birmingham, but you feel like you're back in Basra.
And that's the and that's the experience that is running through every, every nerve in your body.
14:30