HC Deb 26 January 2004 vol 417 cc86-7W
Ross Cranston

To 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. Sutcliffe

The Department will be assessing the effectiveness of regulations made under the Fireworks Act 2003 by using the following sources of informationThe 2004 fireworks injury statistics compared to data from previous years; Information 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; and The volume of complaints received from members of the public in relation to previous years

Using this data, the effectiveness of regulations will be better judged after the fireworks season 2004 and new year festivities of 2004–05.