Parliamentary Committees and Public Enquiries
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Petitions Committee disappointed by Government’s response on misuse of fireworks

The Petitions Committee have received a ‘disappointing’ response from the Government following an intensive inquiry into the irresponsible use of fireworks.

The Committee’s intensive investigation throughout 2019 came after more than 750,000 UK citizens and British residents signed petitions relating to the issue of fireworks over the last three years.

Despite three debates in the House of Commons scrutinising the misuse of fireworks, the Government continued to respond to petitioners in a way that left them feeling frustrated and ignored. The Petitions Committee decided to take action by holding an inquiry into fireworks use to investigate the problem further and hold the Government to account on this issue. 

The landmark inquiry involved consultations with groups including people with a wide range of health conditions and disabilities and organisations that support them, military veterans and animal rights charities.  The investigation also compiled evidence from the RSPCA, the British Fireworks Association, the National Police Chiefs Council, and the National Fire Chiefs Council, culminating in a comprehensive report submitted to the Government in November. 

While the Government agreed to the Committee’s recommendation to coordinate a major public awareness campaign to improve understanding of the dangers of fireworks misuse, the Government has rejected many of the recommendations for action that the Committee made to meet public concerns about the misuse of fireworks.

Chair's comments

Chair of the Petitions Committee, Catherine McKinnell MP, recently said: 

“This is a disappointing response from the Government to our fireworks inquiry and, when normal business resumes, we will be pursuing this issue further.”

Further information

 

Channel website: http://www.parliament.uk/

Original article link: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/petitions-committee/news-parliament-2017/fireworks-government-response-published-19-21/

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