§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total capacity of facilities in the United Kingdom licensed by the Health and Safety Executive to store greater than one tonne of fireworks or related explosives was at 1 October. [134587]
§ Mr. BrowneThe total licensed storage capacity for fireworks at sites licensed by the Health and Safety Executive is 19,177 tonnes. This figure represents the net mass of the explosive contained in the fireworks. This storage capacity is sufficient to hold fireworks with a gross weight in excess of 76 thousand tonnes.
In addition, local authority licensed stores holding more than one tonne (gross) have an estimated capacity of 5,000 tonnes (gross).
Explosives licensing in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office.
§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many explosive storage sites, capable of storing what quantity of explosives, were licensed by the Health and Safety Executive and other appropriate bodies in respect of Global Fireworks Ltd.(a) prior to 5 April 2002, (b) between 6 April 2002 and 5 April 2003 and (c) from 6 April 2003 to date. [135639]
§ Mr. BrowneGlobal Fireworks Ltd. did not have HSE-licensed storage facilities during any or these periods.
Licensing of explosives stores in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. We understand that there were no explosives storage facilities licensed or registered in the name of Global Fireworks Ltd. during this period.
Smaller explosives stores are licensed or registered by local authorities. Registers of these storage facilities are maintained by local authorities. There is no central database of licensed stores and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps are taken by the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that consignments of fireworks entering the United Kingdom are taken to a licensed storage site. [135640]
§ Mr. BrowneThe storage of fireworks is regulated by HSE in partnership with local authorities under the Explosives Act 1875. Anyone storing fireworks illegally will be liable for be prosecution.
HSE works with local authorities and Customs and Excise to verify whether firework importers have licensed storage facilities in Great Britain. The evidence from these checks is that the overwhelming majority of 146W fireworks imports declared to Customs and Excise are being imported by firms with licensed storage available to them.
§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions were commenced by the Health and Safety Executive for illegal(a) transportation and (b) storage of explosives in each of the last five years. [135641]
§ Mr. BrowneThe information is in the following table. All the prosecutions were successful with the exception of the two prosecutions in the current year which are pending. This table does not include cases in the current year that are still under investigation. Prosecutions by HSE for illegal transport or storage of explosives
Transportation Storage 1999–2000 — 2 2000–01 2 — 2001–02 1 — 2002–03 — — 2003–04 1 1 Total 4 3
§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what quantity of fireworks was seized by the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last five years. [135642]
§ Mr. BrowneThe Health and Safety at Work Act only provides powers to seize fireworks in cases where there is imminent danger. There have been no such cases in any of the last five years.
Where the fireworks do not present an imminent danger the Health and Safety Executive will serve an enforcement notice requiring the owner to arrange for the fireworks to be removed to a legal storage place. The information in the table gives the number of enforcement notices issued over the last five years.
Where there are concerns over the safety of the fireworks HSE will work with the local authority to arrange for the fireworks to be dealt with safely and where necessary for enforcement action to be taken by the local authority under the Firework Safety Regulations 1999.
In addition to requiring the removal HSE will also prosecute where there is sufficient evidence of illegal storage (or other breaches of the legal requirements).
HSE Enforcement Action on illegal fireworks storage Enforcement notices 1999–2000 0 2000–01 1 2001–02 0 2002–03 0 2003–04 5