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Written Answers
3 February 2000
Fireworks
Mr.
Woolas: To ask the
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
what plans he has to review the sale of
fireworks. [108373]
Dr. Howells: The Fireworks (Safety)
Regulations 1997 introduced comprehensive
controls on the types and sizes of
fireworks which can be sold to the public.
I have no plans to introduce further
controls on fireworks or to review the
existing Regulations.
Written Answers 19 April 2000
Fireworks
Injuries
Mrs. Gilroy: To
ask the Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry if he will publish the fireworks
injuries statistics for 1999; and if he
will make a statement. [120231]
Dr. Howells: The total number of
persons recorded as attending hospital
casualty departments in Great Britain
during the 1999 bonfire night period was
1,056. This represents an increase of
just over 21 per cent. on the previous
year's total of 831. However, injuries in
1999 were still at a lower level than
those recorded in the mid 1990s. Also
firework sales were approximately 40 per
cent. higher in 1999 than for the same
period in 1998.
During the millennium period 327 persons
required treatment at hospital casualty
departments. This suggests that the
Government's warning about the dangers of
mixing alcohol and fireworks was taken
very much to heart.
There were no deaths from fireworks in
1999.
I am arranging for draft copies of the
injury figures together with the
analytical and regional tables to be
placed in the Libraries of both Houses as
well as on the DTI website (www.dti.gov.uk)
and hard copies will be published shortly
as will details of the millennium
injuries.
Written Answers 19 May 2000
Firework
Storage
Mr. Page: To
ask the Secretary of State for the
Environment, Transport and the Regions
what plans he has to review the limits on
the weight of fireworks which may be
stored at private premises and the length
of time they may be so stored. [R] [122631]
Mr. Meacher: The Health and Safety
Executive is in the advanced stages of a
review of the legal controls on the
manufacture and storage of fireworks and
other explosives. This includes a review
of limits on the storage of fireworks in
private premises. The Health and Safety
Commission plans to consult publicly on
its proposals towards the end of the year.
Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of
State for the Environment, Transport and
the Regions what recent assessment has
been carried out by his Department of the
proximity of the locations of storage and
manufacture of fireworks and explosives
to private dwellings. [R] [122624]
Mr. Meacher: The Health and Safety
Executive is in the advanced stages of a
review of the legal controls on the
manufacture and storage of explosives,
including fireworks. This includes a
thorough and expert re-examination of the
distances currently specified for
separation from inhabited buildings, and
related work on the location of existing
sites. The Health and Safety Commission
plans to consult publicly on its
proposals towards the end of the year.
22 May 2000 : Points of Order
Mr. Richard Burden (Birmingham,
Northfield): On a point of order,
Madam Speaker. I seek your guidance on
the implications for procedure in the
House of a report in The Guardian
today. It is reported that the right hon.
Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr.
Maclean) wrote a letter on 14 May 1998 to
a noble Lord, setting out his tactics for
blocking a number of private Members'
Bills. In that letter, he stated that the
Government should not get the Fireworks
Bill as punishment for letting their
backbenchers play around with hunting.
Does the right hon. Gentleman put chasing
foxes before the welfare of children and
animals?
In terms of procedure, is it right for a
Member to seek to persuade the Government
to prevent hon. Members from exercising
their right to introduce private Members'
legislation in the House?
Madam Speaker: I appreciate the fact
that the hon. Gentleman gave me notice of
his point of order, but he will
understand that I can respond to it only
in so far as it concerns the Chair. The
proceedings on the Fireworks Bill in the
1997-98 Session were entirely in order.
There is nothing in the press report that
requires a ruling from me.
25 May 2000
Mrs. Linda Gilroy (Plymouth, Sutton):
Did my hon. Friend have the opportunity
on
Monday to read The Guardian and
the article in it headlined, "Firework
safety law was wrecked by pro-hunt plot"?
If so, did he note in particular the
comments of John Woodhead, who has long
service in the firework industry? He said:
If this bill had become law it would
certainly help ministers now to deal with
any regulation changes that might be
necessary after the disastrous fireworks
warehouse explosion in Holland.
Will my hon. Friend make time available
for the House to debate that important
issue? Does he share my concern at the
actions of some Opposition Members, which
appear to put the interests of those who
kill foxes for fun before sensible
measures such as the Fireworks Bill,
which would have kept from harm children,
human beings and animals?
Mr. Tipping: I have seen the report
in The Guardian. I am also well
aware of the tremendous interest that my
hon. Friend has taken in the matter over
a number of years, and of the support
that she has received right across the
spectrum, from those who are concerned
with safety issues to those who
manufacture and work with fireworks. It
seems that the measure did fall, and the
right hon. Member for Penrith and The
Border (Mr. Maclean) said that the
measure did not go forward as a
punishment for letting Back Benchers play
around with hunting. That seems to me an
example of the legitimate but silly games
that give the House a very bad name.
9 June 2000
Maria Eagle: ........Test purchasing
was pioneered in Liverpool, by Liverpool
trading standards officers, whom I
commend for their work on the issue. In
1988, Liverpool first started performing
cigarette test purchases. Liverpool
trading standards officers have also test
purchased fireworks. They cannot,
however, test purchase alcohol, as it is
an offence to send an under-aged person
into an off-licence to make such a
purchase. The law prevents them from
conducting those tests.
I should add that, in 1988, when
cigarette test purchasing was first
adopted, every kid who was sent into a
shop to buy cigarettes was able to buy
them; 100 per cent. of shops sold under-aged
people cigarettes. Last year, with a much
larger number of shops being tested, the
figure dropped to 5 per cent. Similarly,
the percentage of shops selling fireworks
to under-aged people has dropped from 50
per cent, in 1986, to 5 per cent. today.
Test purchasing works, and it should be
allowed to work in helping to stop under-aged
drinking. I hope that the Government will
take that fact into account.
Written Answers 25 July 2000
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of
State for Culture, Media and Sport how
much money was committed by the New
Millennium Experience Company to
underwrite the costs of the firework
display on the River Thames on New Year's
Eve. [128506]
Janet Anderson: The amount spent by
the New Millennium Experience Company for
the display, including fireworks, was £1.447
million.
2 November 2000
Angela Smith (Basildon): As we move
towards the anniversary of the gunpowder
plot on 5 November, it may not surprise
hon. Members that many people will be
celebrating this weekend. May I draw my
right hon. Friend's attention to early-day
motion 1088:
[That this House calls for a ban on
the sale of fireworks to the general
public.]
At the moment, it does not have many
signatures. It may be that hon. Members
do not agree with the motion introduced
by my hon. Friend the Member for
Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Kilfoyle), but
there is a great deal of concern among
our constituents about the nuisance,
disruption and injuries caused largely
because of the sale of ordinary fireworks
to the public. Is it not time to
reconsider the option of restricting the
sale of fireworks, as many of our
constituents are being disturbed and
troubled by the illegal use of fireworks?
Mrs. Beckett: I understand the point
that my hon. Friend is making. There is
concern if fireworks are used
disruptively, and public safety is always
a worry at this time of year. Although of
course I share my hon. Friend's sympathy
and concern for those who find these
things distressing or who are in any way
injured, the Government have again looked
carefully at a review that was carried
out by the previous Government about the
possibility of banning the sale of
fireworks to the general public. There
remains concern that were we to do so, a
black market in these goods might develop
or it might lead to some people producing
home-made devices and that would be even
worse. We keep the matter under review,
but I cannot undertake to act as my hon.
Friend wishes at present.
2 November 2000
Fireworks
8. Mr. Phil
Sawford (Kettering): What action he
is taking to reduce the number of
injuries caused by fireworks. [133894]
The Minister for Competition and Consumer
Affairs (Dr. Kim Howells): We have
jumped backwards now, Mr. Speaker, from
question 9 to question 8.
The comprehensive measures introduced
under the Fireworks (Safety) Regulations
1997 are again being supplemented by a
robust, targeted firework safety campaign.
Mr. Sawford: I thank my hon. Friend
for the work that he and his Department
are doing to reduce the number of
injuries caused by fireworks each year. I
urge him to consider tighter regulations
to restrict sales to organised events
only, and thus end the annual ritual
whereby hundreds of people suddenly go
into their backyards and play with
explosives. Every year hundreds of people
are maimed and disfigured; sometimes
there are fatalities. It is time to take
tougher action to reduce those numbers.
Will my hon. Friend consider further
restrictions on the availability of
fireworks? [Interruption.] Just
listen. Fireworks are currently let off
indiscriminately for weeks before bonfire
night and for weeks afterwards. That
causes great anxiety, especially to
elderly people, pet owners and pet lovers.
It is perfectly reasonable for the
Government to consider the matter.
Dr. Howells: Obviously fireworks
provide a great deal of entertainment for
people, because 100 million were sold
last year. We would encourage people who
are unhappy about buying and letting off
fireworks to go to professionally
organised displays, but we do not believe
that there is a case for a total ban on
the retail sale of fireworks. We have
legislated to reduce the public's access
to more powerful fireworks, but a
complete ban could encourage a black
market, or lead to people making devices
or importing fireworks illegally.
Mr. Bercow: Given that the 1997
regulations prohibit the supply of
fireworks of erratic flight--mini
rockets, aerial shells, aerial maroons,
maroons in mortar and shells in mortar--does
the Under-Secretary agree that before
considering the extension of those
regulations, which the hon. Member for
Kettering (Mr. Sawford) favours, it would
be preferable if he could first tell us
what evidence he has adduced of
compliance with them?
Dr. Howells: As the hon. Gentleman is
such a jumping cracker, I am surprised
that he forgot to mention squibs. As he
knows, the rate of accidents has been
decreasing since 1994. I believe that the
regulations are working well and that we
should keep them.
6 November 2000
House of Lords
Northern
Ireland: Fireworks
Lord Laird asked
Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will consider re-imposing
the ban on the sale and private use of
fireworks in Northern Ireland. [HL4343]
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: There
has never been a general ban on the
possession, purchase or use of fireworks
by the public in Northern Ireland. Since
1970 a system of licensing has been in
operation whereby anyone wishing to
acquire all but the smallest fireworks
required a licence from the Secretary of
State. Following a review in 1996 the law
was amended whereby the requirement for a
licence has since been confined to the
larger display-type fireworks. The law
remains under review as evidenced most
recently by the Explosives (Fireworks)
Regulations (NI) 1999 which, inter alia,
proscribed mini-rockets, certain
categories of air bomb and firework of
erratic flight.
Her Majesty's Government have no plans to
introduce a general proscription of
fireworks in Northern Ireland.
21 November 2000
Fireworks
Dr. Whitehead: To
ask the Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry what recent discussions his
Department has held with the firework
industry concerning the opening of shops
dedicated solely to the sale of fireworks.
[139143]
Dr. Howells: My Department has not
held such discussions. However, we held
full discussions with the fireworks
industry over the nature and content of
this year's firework safety campaign. We
will be meeting with the industry again
in December as part of the evaluation of
that campaign.
24 November 2000
Fireworks
Mr. Robertson: To
ask the Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry if he will introduce legislation
restricting the sale of all fireworks (a)
to persons over the age of 16 years and (b)
during a limited period of time around 5
November; and if he will make a statement.
[140084]
Dr. Howells: The Fireworks (Safety)
Regulations 1997 prohibit the supply of
most fireworks to persons under the age
of 18 years. The exceptions to this
prohibition are low hazard fireworks, i.e.
caps, cracker snaps, novelty matches,
party poppers, serpents and throwdowns,
which, under the Explosives Act 1875, can
be sold only to persons over the age of
16 years.
I have no plans to introduce further
legislation to control the period of sale.
30 November 2000
Fireworks
29. Mr. Gapes: To
ask the Secretary of State for Trade and
Industry what plans he has to review the
law concerning the sale of fireworks. [139561]
Dr. Howells: The Fireworks (Safety)
Regulations 1997 introduced comprehensive
controls on the types and sizes of
fireworks which can be sold to the public.
I have no plans to introduce further
controls on fireworks or to review the
existing Regulations.
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