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Written question asked by Anne Milton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 19 December 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 January 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 January 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Fireworks Act

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been under the Fireworks Act 2003; and what representations he has received on behalf of animal owners concerned about the impact of fireworks.
Answer

Information from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates court, for offences under the Fireworks Act 2003 in England and Wales 2005, can be viewed in the following table.In addition, penalty notices for disorder (PND) can be issued for a range of offences under the Fireworks Act 2003. The offences, of breach of the fireworks curfew, possession of category four fireworks, and possession by a person under 18 of an adult firework were added to the PND scheme on 11 October 2004. Persons committing these offences can receive a fixed penalty of £80. The number of persons issued with penalty notices for disorder for firework offences in England and Wales, in 2005, and provisional data for January to June 2006, can also be viewed in the following table.DEFRA has received various correspondence from animal owners concerned about the impact of fireworks.

Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates court for offences under the Fireworks Act 2003 in England Wales, 2005¹,²
Statute Offence description Proceeded against
Fireworks Act 2003 S.11 (3)(a)(b),(4) Knowingly or recklessly making a statement which is false in a material particular when a requirement to give information is imposed by or under fireworks regulations. ³—
Fireworks Act 2003 S. 11 (1 )(4) Contravening a prohibition imposed by fireworks regulations. 90
Fireworks Act 2003 s.11 (2)(4) Failure to comply with a requirement imposed in or under fireworks regulations to give or not give information. 4
Total 94
¹ These data are on the principal offence basis.
² Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
³ Nil
Source:
RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
113595; 455 c534-5W;455 c532-3W
Session
2006-07
Subjects
Fireworks Prosecutions
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk