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Firework Review Group

Overview

This group is no longer active.

The ‘Fireworks Action Plan: Promoting the Safe and Appropriate Use of Fireworks in Scotland’ committed to establishing a Firework Review Group to provide recommendations to Scottish Ministers on tightening devolved legislation on fireworks in Scotland.

The Group will consider the feasibility of available options within current devolved legislation, and present recommendations for change. Legislation on where and when fireworks can be used is devolved to Scottish Ministers and there are some options available on the sale of fireworks. These options will be full considered with the aim of making a series of evidence-based recommendations. 

The Fireworks (Scotland) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2021

A number of the recommendations from the Review Group have been taken forward in secondary legislation. In February 2021, the Minister for Community Safety laid The Fireworks (Scotland) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2021. The changes implemented by these regulations, which come into force on 30 June 2021, include three new measures in relation to the way the general public can use and access fireworks. The regulations:

  • restrict the times of day fireworks can be used by the general public to between 6pm and 11pm, with the exception of 5 November (when they can be used from 6pm until midnight), New Year’s Eve, the night of Chinese New Year and the night of Diwali (when they can be used from 6pm until 1am)
  • restrict the times of day fireworks can be supplied to the general public to during the daytime hours of 7am and 6pm, alongside existing requirements on retailers around sale and storage licences
  • limit the quantity of fireworks that can be supplied to the general public to 5kg at any one time

Easy to read guidance relating to the supply of fireworks is available. There is also guidance on the use of fireworks.

Members

The Review Group is externally chaired by Alasdair Hay CBE QFSM and membership of the Review Group is detailed below:

  • Fraser Stevenson, British Fireworks Association
  • Andy Hubble, British Pyrotechnists Association
  • Kathleen Robertson, British Veterinary Association
  • Alison Kerr, Community Representative Blackburn
  • Willie Black, Community Representative Edinburgh
  • Mike Callaghan, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA)
  • Eleanor Robertson, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde / Care of Burns in Scotland (COBIS)
  • Tim Ross, Police Scotland
  • Donna Baillie, Scottish Ambulance Service
  • Lorraine Gillies, Scottish Community Safety Network
  • Alasdair Perry, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
  • Gillian McNaught, Scottish Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators
  • Gilly Mendes Ferreira, Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
  • Christopher Bell, Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland
  • Jim Wilson, Veterans Scotland

Documents

Contact

Email: SecretariatFireworkReviewGroup@gov.scot

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