Fireworks licensing
Section 4—Requirement to have fireworks licence
25.Section 4 of the Act introduces a new requirement to have a fireworks licence. This section is subject to some exemptions (see section 38 and paragraphs 1, 2, 7 and 14 of schedule 1).
26.It is an offence under section 4 to purchase, acquire, possess or use a category F2 or F3 firework without a fireworks licence. The offence is punishable (on summary conviction) by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000) or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both.
27.The offence does not apply if an individual has a reasonable excuse to purchase, acquire, possess or use fireworks. For example, if a person found category F2 fireworks in a park and took them to a police station for surrender, they would not commit an offence as they had a reasonable excuse for having those fireworks in their possession without having a fireworks licence.
28.Schedule 1 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 contains definitions of words and expressions that apply to the Act. It defines “person” to include non-natural persons, being “a body of persons corporate or unincorporated and a partnership constituted under the law of Scotland”. Section 4(3) of the Act makes provision for circumstances where category F2 or F3 fireworks are purchased, acquired, possessed or used by a non-natural person (“the organisation”) and requires that only licensed individuals can carry out such activities for the non-natural person.
Section 5—Supply of fireworks to unlicensed persons
29.Where section 4 puts the onus on the person purchasing, acquiring, possessing or using the fireworks to have a fireworks licence, section 5 creates a new offence of supplying fireworks to unlicensed persons. The offence of supplying a firework to persons without a licence is punishable (on summary conviction) by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000) or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both.
30.The onus is on the supplier to check that the person has a fireworks licence (or that an exemption otherwise applies under schedule 1), and it is a defence to show that the supplier took reasonable steps to ascertain this. The section is subject to some exemptions (see section 38 and paragraphs 3, 8, 15 and 26 of schedule 1).
31.Subsection (4) provides that a local weights and measures authority (being the local authority for the area) must enforce section 5 for its area but only in relation to the supply of fireworks by a person in the course of business.
32.Subsection (5) makes it clear that actions amounting to supplying a firework are not limited to those carried out in the course of a business. Therefore, if a family is gathering in a garden for a celebration and Person A gives a category F3 firework to Person B, Person A commits an offence if Person B does not have a fireworks licence (unless they can prove the defence available in subsection (3)). Person B may also commit an offence under section 4(1) as Person B does not have a fireworks licence.
