Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 03 May 2022
I welcome the chance to speak in the debate. We can all agree that more action should be taken to tackle antisocial behaviour that involves fireworks misuse, which can cause so much harm to our emergency workers, to people who are sensitive to loud noises and to our pets. I say to those in the chamber who do not know it that I have a lovely puppy who is involved in a competition.
Dogs Trust has contacted us to remind us that
“Dogs generally feel safer and more secure when they can predict and control their environment, so fireworks, which are inherently loud, bright, unpredictable, and difficult to escape from, can cause dogs immense stress and this has a negative impact on their welfare. Fireworks can elicit undesirable behavioural responses ... such as avoidance (hiding away), not eating, trembling/shaking, panting, not being able to settle, agitation ... These are physical manifestations of”
dogs
“trying to cope with a perceived threat”
that they do not understand. I do not know how Alfie will react to fireworks—he is only four months old—but I will be glad to know that he will not be as stressed in the next period.
However, the fact that we know that something needs to be done does not mean that we should rush the decision-making process. The bill is being rushed through Parliament so that the SNP Government can avoid proper scrutiny.
The consultation showed support for taking tough action on fireworks misuse, and we agree that tough action needs to be taken to tackle antisocial behaviour with fireworks, but the law is being rushed through Parliament and is poorly drafted. Bad law will not fix the problems that the public clearly want to be addressed.
There has not been enough time to scrutinise the bill, which has significant flaws. There has not been a single full sitting day between publication of the Criminal Justice Committee’s stage 1 report and Parliament’s debating the proposal. Standing orders state that a stage 1 report must be published at least five sitting days before Parliament considers the bill’s general principles, and that has not happened in this situation.
The bill’s proposed licensing system has not been fleshed out, the firework control zones are confusing and the bill’s impact on the growth of a black market and the future of the fireworks industry—online and in person—has not been made clear.
Antisocial behaviour that involves fireworks has been a long-standing issue in Blackburn, which is in the Lothian region. Individuals have misused fireworks at various times of the year, and especially around bonfire night—5 November. Over several years, the antisocial behaviour around bonfire night became more intense and problematic. In 2017 and 2018, police in riot gear were called in to deal with the situation because it got so bad. Because of that, Blackburn bonfire night action group was formed. Some members of that group are not convinced about how firework control zones will be policed and they think that the zones could have the reverse effect to that intended.
It would be good to have measures to tackle antisocial behaviour in place by bonfire night this year, but it is not Parliament’s fault that the SNP Government wasted so much time that it could not introduce the bill earlier. Police have highlighted potential enforcement issues with the bill, and the fire service has pointed out that firework control zones might simply shift the location of antisocial behaviour. Those issues must be addressed before the bill becomes law.
The Scottish Conservatives support doubling the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker. Under current legislation, the maximum sentence for that is 12 months.