House of Commons
Thursday 6 November 2003
The House met at half-past Eleven o'clock
PRAYERS
[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]
Oral Answers to Questions
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
The Secretary of State was asked—
Fireworks
1. Mrs. Joan Humble (Blackpool, North and Fleetwood): What action her Department is taking to enforce safety legislation associated with fireworks. [136674]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe): The safety of fireworks is governed by the Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997. Enforcement is the responsibility of the trading standards service. Display and storage of fireworks are controlled by local authorities under the Health and Safety Executive's Explosives Act 1875.
Mrs. Humble : I thank my hon. Friend for that long list of measures, but is not the best way of enforcing the safety regulations to tackle the antisocial behaviour that is all too often associated with fireworks? Will he ensure that those regulations, and the new regulations announced by the Secretary of State, will be strictly enforced to ensure the safety of both people and pets?
Mr. Sutcliffe: I wholeheartedly agree. I think that the House owes a debt to my hon. Friend the Member for Hamilton, South (Mr. Tynan), who introduced the Fireworks Bill as a private Member's Bill. It is important to tackle antisocial behaviour, which is why we are pleased that the regulations will ban under-18s from having fireworks in public places and double the penalties imposed on those throwing fireworks. I think that those measures accord with our strategy to deal with antisocial behaviour.
Malcolm Bruce (Gordon): Does the Minister acknowledge that nowadays there is widespread ignorance as to who Guy Fawkes was? Apparently, the most popular candidates for the bonfire this year are President George Bush and the about-to-be-crowned leader of the Conservative party.
On a more serious note, on the basis of the introduction of the new Fireworks Act 2003—which he commended—will the Minister ensure that the
regulations directly target safety issues and the nuisance and distress caused to people and animals in a way that does not needlessly destroy businesses and jobs, and enables people to carry on enjoying fireworks in a responsible manner?
Mr. Sutcliffe: I accept what the hon. Gentleman says about safety. This year's safety campaign concerned sparklers. At first people did not think that appropriate, but last year 80 children were injured by sparklers, which reach a temperature of 1,000° C, 10 times the boiling point of water. They are in fact very dangerous.
We must make sure that schoolchildren and young people are aware of the dangers of fireworks. We need a balance between regulation and ensuring that we do not affect businesses, but the safety issues are important. I am pleased that many local authorities, police forces and fire authorities have worked together to try to get the safety message across.
Mr. Bob Laxton (Derby, North): I hope that the new regulations prove effective. I suspect that the number of complaints about the effects of fireworks has, if anything, been greater this year than in earlier years. If the regulations prove ineffective, what prospect will there be of a total ban on the sale of fireworks other than for publicly organised events?
Mr. Sutcliffe: My hon. Friend is entitled to his view, but I hope that he will join us in trying to ensure that the regulations do work, because they provide for dramatic improvements in safety and reductions in antisocial behaviour. I hope that he will concentrate on that aspect and work with stakeholders in his constituency. Let us see if the regulations work first; if they do not, we shall have to return to the issue.
Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell): While there is much to welcome in the Fireworks Act, can the Minister assure us that the Government will not use the section referring to potential licensing to introduce regulations requiring every local primary school, guides group or scouts group that holds an annual display to engage in a complicated licensing process?
Mr. Sutcliffe: I assure the hon. Gentleman that that will not happen. The licensing regime will concentrate on the sale of fireworks. At present there is a registration scheme for shops. The idea is to establish a licensing scheme to prevent any abuse of the rules on selling fireworks to young people.
Deprived Areas
2. Andy Burnham (Leigh): What action she is taking to help enterprise in deprived areas. [136675]
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Patricia Hewitt): My Department promotes the development of small enterprises and investment by larger firms, particularly in the assisted areas.
Andy Burnham : Does my right hon. Friend agree that some recent manufacturing losses have involved low-value, high-volume products, often in some of our
most deprived areas? The physical inheritance of those areas from their industrial past—the mills and the pits—means that they are among the hardest to regenerate. I welcome the successful regeneration of northern cities, and I welcome the great northern cities that we now have; but does the Minister think there is a case for commissioning a special study, along with the northern regional development agencies, to investigate what more can be done to regenerate hard-to-reach northern towns?
Ms Hewitt: I share my hon. Friend's concern about the loss of, in particular, traditional manufacturing areas in some of the most disadvantaged towns, including those in his constituency. Let me draw his attention, however, to what we have already been able to do, in his constituency and more generally in the north-west, through regional selective assistance and the grants—which I know he welcomed—to Patak's Foods and, more recently, Corbett Packaging, which is relocating in his constituency. Those are good examples of our commitment to modern manufacturing and to the securing of good jobs, especially in our most disadvantaged communities.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham): Given that in his Budget speech on 9 April the Chancellor of the Exchequer talked about adding to the incentives for small business creation, and that, whatever the merits of individual measures, the sea of regulation is now deeper and more hazardous than any with which business has previously had to contend, can the right hon. Lady now tell me and the House what assessment she has made of the merits of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 in the United States?
Ms Hewitt: I always enjoy the hon. Gentleman's contributions about red tape, but in response to the rather difficult and confused metaphor that he used, I have to say that he is wrong. The number of regulations each year that impose a cost on business has fallen since 1996, and we have taken a number of steps—simplifying the VAT regime, for instance—to make life simpler and easier for small business. The hon. Gentleman referred to some good examples of practice in the United States; we did indeed look at that and learned from it in creating and strengthening the Better Regulation Task Force and our whole system of regulatory scrutiny. That is why the OECD says that we have one of the best regulation and regulatory reform regimes in the world.
Mr. George Stevenson (Stoke-on-Trent, South): Does my right hon. Friend recognise that enterprise in a deprived area such as mine remains heavily dependent on the fortunes of the pottery industry, which in turn heavily depends on exports? In that context, does she share my concern about the 30 per cent. tariff on pottery imports from the United Kingdom to the United States? That swingeing tariff is having a very detrimental effect. Will she look into it with some degree of urgency, and make the necessary representations to her colleagues in the European Union?
Ms Hewitt: Yes, of course I will. My hon. Friend raises an important point, and he will know, as do other
hon. Members, of the enormous efforts that we have made to deal with the unlawful tariffs that the United States has imposed on imports of our steel—a matter on which we shall soon have the final ruling from the World Trade Organisation. The tariffs on pottery imports into the United States are a real hindrance to companies in my hon. Friend's constituency and elsewhere, which have quite enough problems to contend with already. I shall certainly see what we can do to help, both bilaterally and within the WTO.Fireworks
3. Phil Sawford (Kettering): What steps she has taken to control the sale and use of fireworks. [136676]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe): The Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997 prohibit the supply of consumer-type fireworks to those under 18 years of age. They also prohibit the supply of dangerous types of fireworks to the general public—bangers, fireworks of erratic flight and so on. Under the Fireworks Act 2003, we will regulate to make it an offence for under-18s to possess fireworks in a public place, and to prohibit the possession of category 4 fireworks by any person other than a professional. In the new year we will enforce in law the firework industry's current voluntary ban on air bombs.
Phil Sawford : I thank my hon. Friend for that response and for his earlier comments. Last night, London echoed to the sound of fireworks as families and communities came together in their thousands to enjoy the fun and spectacle—but for many, the misuse of fireworks blights their lives, threatens their homes, terrifies their pets and destroys their quality of life. I welcome the new proposals and, although no one wants to be a killjoy, I ask my hon. Friend to do everything he can to ensure that the police and local authorities enforce any new legislation to stop the misuse of fireworks and stamp out that menace in our communities.
Mr. Sutcliffe: I congratulate my hon. Friend, who over the years has campaigned vigorously to ensure that people do not suffer injury from fireworks. I pay tribute to his work. I was pleased to see that last year's figures showed a 25 per cent. reduction over the previous year, so the safety message is, I hope, getting through. I assure him that we shall do everything we can to ensure that people use fireworks safely.
Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire): May I take it that the extremely sensible decision to prevent under-18s from possessing fireworks indicates that the Government will take a similarly robust and sensible line on votes at 16?
Mr. Sutcliffe: I am happy to say that that is not a matter for me.
Mr. Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich, West): I thank the Minister for his comments, and I want to emphasise that the number of complaints about fireworks has been growing year by year. Indeed, I have received from a
constituent of mine—Mr. Bill Woodward, who is 80 today—a newspaper cutting from the Tipton Herald of 1963, the year in which he started his campaign for legislation on fireworks. I seek an assurance that the Minister will introduce those elements of the Fireworks Act 2003 that can be introduced as soon as possible, preferably before Christmas, so that I can reassure Mr. Woodward that the fruits of his labour will be achieved in his lifetime.
Mr. Sutcliffe: I would be pleased if my hon. Friend would give my congratulations to Mr. Woodward on achieving his 80th birthday, and on his work on firework campaigning. We will include in regulation as soon as possible—before the new year—those elements of the 2003 Act that we can include. Hopefully, all the regulations will be in place by July of next year in readiness for the subsequent firework celebrations.
Mr. Bill Tynan (Hamilton, South): Does my hon. Friend agree that one current major problem—the British Fireworks Association is on board in this regard—is that the simplicity of the application form for an import licence is allowing unscrupulous firms to import hundreds of tonnes of fireworks and distribute them indiscriminately, which is causing many of the problems with antisocial behaviour? Will he consider changing the terms of the import licence application to make it more difficult for such companies to import fireworks?
Mr. Sutcliffe: I am happy to address that issue with my hon. Friend, to whom I earlier paid tribute for his work on fireworks; indeed, it is his work that has got us where we are today. I know that he has raised this issue with my ministerial colleagues. I am happy to discuss it with him, and I am sure that we can come to an arrangement. He is right—illegal fireworks are part of the problem and we need to work with the industry and to have proper regulation.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |