FIREWORKS DEBRIS AND CATEGORY 3 FIREWORKS

Early day motion 1389, tabled 23 June 2004 by Bill Tynan (Labour). Signed by 65 members.

That this House welcomes the Government's consultation on regulations to control the supply and use of fireworks under the Fireworks Act 2003 and looks forward to the conclusion of the consultation and the early implementation of the resulting regulations; believes that the Government has overall achieved a sensible balance between enabling fireworks to be enjoyed in safety and curbing the misuse of fireworks which can cause injury and distress; notes, however, that accidents such as that suffered by Mrs Lavinia Dale who lost the sight in one eye when she was struck in the face by debris from a Category 3 Roman candle combination let off in a neighbouring garden would not have been prevented; and therefore calls on the Government to consider additional measures to reduce significantly the allowed debris weight for firework rockets and to consider changing the definition of Category 3 fireworks so that the most powerful and dangerous fireworks currently in Category 3 might be moved into Category 4.

Signatures by party: Labour 45, Liberal Democrat 12, Labour/Co-operative 6, Conservative 1, UUP 1.