Thank you for contacting me about fireworks.
While many people enjoy the use of fireworks on special occasions, I appreciate that others do not like them. Fireworks can, of course, be dangerous and so it is right that the use and sale of them is controlled.
Firework regulations allow fireworks for home use to be sold during the traditional firework periods of Bonfire Night, New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali. Suppliers who wish to sell fireworks outside the traditional periods must comply with stringent conditions before being granted a licence by their local licensing authority. This means the availability and use of fireworks outside the traditional periods has been greatly reduced.
Although there is some use of fireworks outside the traditional periods, the majority of people who use fireworks do so at the appropriate times of year and have a sensible and responsible attitude towards them.
The Government has considered very closely the matter of a ban on the sale of fireworks to the general public. All the evidence, however, is that the majority of people who enjoy fireworks are prepared to use them sensibly and responsibly on specific occasions as a form of popular family entertainment. The Government therefore concluded that fireworks should not be banned for sale to, or use by, the general public.
The Government is also concerned that a ban could lead to an unregulated ‘black market’ in illegal fireworks and could encourage people to produce their own dangerous homemade devices. Enforcement of the existing regime, rather than a ban, helps to prevent this occurring.
Thank you again for contacting me on this issue.