§ Ross CranstonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she plans to carry out a further fireworks monitoring exercise between October 2004 and January 2005 to assess the effectiveness of the Fireworks Act 2003; and if she will make a statement. [149012]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe Department will be assessing the effectiveness of regulations made under the Fireworks Act 2003 by using the following sources of information
The 2004 fireworks injury statistics compared to data from previous years;87WInformation pertaining to retailer compliance provided by the Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS);The level of prosecutions under the legislation in conjunction with police reports on, among other things, firework misuse in the street; andThe volume of complaints received from members of the public in relation to previous yearsUsing this data, the effectiveness of regulations will be better judged after the fireworks season 2004 and new year festivities of 2004–05.