Clause 11 - Offences
Fireworks Bill
4:00 pm
Miss Melanie Johnson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Welwyn Hatfield, Labour)
I believe that on-the-spot fines can be imposed on over-18s under one of the fairly recent Home Office Acts; I do not think that it is the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. There is an additional defence for suppliers relating to the prohibition on supplying fireworks to young persons that may be introduced by regulations under clause 3. We propose to make on-the-spot fines for the under-18s possible. That would enable us to tackle many age ranges with which current legislation does not help us.
The 1997 regulations deal only with issues relating to the supply of fireworks, not their use. That may be what the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire has in mind. The Explosives Act 1875 is the current legislation in respect of letting fireworks off in a public place. As I said, I think that we introduced on-the-spot fines for the over-18s following recent Home Office legislation. We will want fixed penalty provision for under-18s, not only for abusing fireworks but for many other forms of antisocial behaviour such as breaking windows.