Fireworks: Sale and Use

Naz Shah Excerpts

Monday 8th November 2021 Westminster Hall

[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg.

For a number of years, I have been campaigning with Bradford 4 Better, which has been leading on the issue of antisocial behaviour around fireworks. The local council conducted a review only this year. The findings were simply that MPs needed to lobby Government for more legislation and to make it tighter. I will not call for a complete ban, but that is not the mood of the people. I am calling for more legislation to be put in place, and would welcome the Government doing so. Such legislation could include—even immediately—having fireworks that are less powerful and less noisy, to save on the distress caused to animals.

Bradford Council conducted its review in August this year, with the findings shared in October. One of the really saddening incidents shared was that of a Shetland pony, which was so distraught and fearful that she strangled herself. From personal experience with my children, the family dog Bella, the family cat Whiskers, and my sister’s dog Lexi and her cat Max, I know what it is like. My niece told me only this week, when she knew I would be speaking in the debate, “Auntie, I had to put the music on all night to drown out the noise of the fireworks.”

On my street there are two people who are affected—I do not need to go wider into the constituency, although the number of emails that I get on this subject is substantial, because fireworks have become an everyday, or at least every week, thing. I appreciate that people want to celebrate weddings or have a good time marking such occasions, but we have to change. Societally, we have to make that not acceptable—it is antisocial behaviour. It is not okay for those two learning-disabled adults on my street to be cowering and frightened, waking up in the middle of the night, because the fireworks might be at 1 am—they do not necessarily stop at 12 o’clock, but can go on until after 1 o’clock. That is irresponsible.

My message to the Government is that, yes, I am happy to work with them. I welcome and support the private Member’s Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen), and I will support the Government. However, there has to be reform. Enough is enough. I do not want to have to come back to have this conversation next year, after another load of animals have been made distraught and lots more of my constituents have written more and more emails. We have been having the debate for so long. I am calling for reform and stronger legislation, because councils have limited legislated powers to stop and manage the nuisance that is fireworks. I am happy to work with the Government, but on behalf of my constituents I urge the Government to get some legislation and to get it through fast.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

It was in 1605 that my former constituent, Mr Guy Fawkes, came to this place to misuse fireworks. That is why I am making a speech today to call for an end to that practice. Not only have many of my constituents written to me, including veterans, families who have experienced autism and other mental health conditions, and animal lovers, but 714 of my constituents signed the petition, calling for fireworks to be used only in properly licensed public displays.

We have to remember that at this time of year our precious NHS, which is overstretched, sees about 2,000 injuries arriving through its doors, 600 of those affecting children, and deals with about 35 inquiries about burns in relation to both Diwali and bonfire night. Our public servants are often a target for people who misuse fireworks. Indeed, only three years ago, I was cycling home from Parliament when young people who were playing with fireworks threw one at me. It was only because I reacted in nanoseconds, slamming on my brakes, that it missed me. If it had hit—it exploded as it hit the ground —who knows what the history would have been?

Every year, cycling on that section of my route, I fear what could happen. That brought home how serious the issue is, so we absolutely have to protect the public. When I called the police, they told me that an incident had previously occurred on the very same spot that night, but they did not have time to attend, which highlights the reasons why legislation needs to be introduced from the top—from the Minister—to change the fortunes of others.

[Naz Shah]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is disturbing that people who sell alcohol and cigarettes have to be fit and proper, but there is no licensing in this field? In Bradford, there is certainly a problem with the sale of fireworks to underage children.

[Rachael Maskell]

My hon. Friend comes on to the point of the debate: fireworks are easily accessible in supermarkets and other shops, which is why we need a comprehensive ban. If people want to enjoy a firework display, such as one put on by the local authority or fire services, that is a better use of public money, as there are fewer call-outs, which require the involvement of the NHS and other emergency services. Those displays can bring communities together, as opposed to what fireworks are now doing—pushing communities apart.

We have heard about fear factors, which are real and live for many families, so I urge the Minister to tackle the problem. We should not come here year after year, voicing the pleas in the letters that we receive time and again from our constituents. This should be the year the Minister goes back to the Government and acts on our call, and on the call of more than 300,000 petitioners, who are saying that things must change. We must not forget the silent animals, who do not have an opportunity to make representations, but who no doubt experience that fear. This nightmare time of year should be one of pleasure for families, instead of one of dread. I trust that the Minister will act swiftly and engage with banning the sale of fireworks by ordinary members of the public.

--- Later in debate ---

[Paul Scully]

I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention and hopefully I will flesh out some more of our thinking, including on enforcement and what other action is being taken.

There is a 120 dB noise limit on fireworks available to consumers. Retailers are restricted to only selling consumer fireworks during a limited period around each of the seasonal celebrations that I just referred to, and retailers may only supply fireworks to the public outside those periods if they obtain a licence from their local licensing authority. However, I fully appreciate that it is just as important to ensure that legislation is enforced effectively. We have heard of some issues where that has fallen short, but I will describe what powers and mechanisms are in place against the illegal sale and use of fireworks.

Local authority trading standards work with retailers to ensure that the fireworks that are sold are safe, and have powers to enforce against those who place non-compliant fireworks on the market. Trading standards and local fire and rescue authorities in metropolitan counties can also enforce against those selling fireworks without an appropriate licence—for example, outside of the normal selling period.

[Naz Shah]

Does the Minister share my concern that the licence he refers to does not require the people who sell fireworks to be fit and proper? Unlike for alcohol and cigarette sales, that is not stated in the legislation.

[Paul Scully]

The hon. Lady raises an interesting point, which I will take away and look at. I think that a licence can be easily revoked if the person holding it is not fit and proper, but she is right: the licence does not specifically say that, as far as I understand it. Those licences are given for a reason—to try to avoid those inappropriate sales—but that is something we can certainly reflect on.

The police, local authorities, and other local agencies have a range of tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to antisocial behaviour, including the antisocial use of fireworks, through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Local areas can decide how best to deploy the powers in the 2014 Act depending on the specific circumstances.

--- Later in debate ---

[Paul Scully]

I was going to turn back to exactly that. In our polling, the Government found that 11% of the population want a total ban on fireworks, 36% want a ban on the private sale of fireworks, and, from memory, 64% enjoy the use of fireworks and want to be able to enjoy them both privately and publicly. We came to similar conclusions from our evidence as were reached by the Petitions Committee in its 2019 inquiry. In the extensive report setting out its findings, the Committee concluded that introducing further restrictions on fireworks was not the appropriate course of action, due to the potential unintended consequences. That was just two years ago. We agree with that position.

We acknowledge the experience of people who believe that banning fireworks would push the market underground and make it more difficult to regulate and monitor. We also agree with the Committee’s conclusion that such a ban would have a substantial economic effect on those who have built their livelihood in the fireworks industry. Restricting fireworks would probably also have dire consequences for community displays, which raise funds for good causes.

Due to those significant concerns, the Government believe that the most balanced course of action is to continue to pursue non-legislative measures on fireworks to complement existing legislation. That is the position we set out and committed to in our response to the Petition Committee’s inquiry. As such, we have been carrying out—

[Naz Shah]

Will the Minister give way?

[Paul Scully]

I want to leave my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington time to conclude, so I will not give way to my hon. Friend for a second time.

We have an ongoing programme of action for fireworks, responding to the key issues raised. This included commissioning the research by Ipsos MORI that provided evidence on consumer attitudes and behaviours around using fireworks in the UK. The key findings have informed our public awareness campaigns and support the need to educate consumers on use of fireworks, to commission noise research—admittedly yet to be published—to test the decibel level of commonly used fireworks, to engage with animal welfare organisations to better understand what specific issues they face, and to engage with the fireworks industry to consider what action it can take to promote consumer safety.

I draw hon. Members’ attention to one of the key commitments the Government made in response to the Petitions Committee regarding public awareness of the safe and considerate use of fireworks. We know that information and education are vital to address the key issues around fireworks. The Office for Product Safety and Standards works in partnership with animal welfare organisations, safety charities and the industry to develop an annual campaign on fireworks; the 2020 campaign was far reaching and had a potential reach of 2.6 million people on Twitter. We built and expanded on that success for the 2021 fireworks campaign, focusing on educating people on how to buy, use, store and dispose of fireworks safely; ensuring that retailers know and understand their responsibilities when selling fireworks; and promoting considerate use so that people and animals are better protected from any negative effects that may be caused by fireworks.