Firework control zones: guidance for local authorities

5. Community Requests

Local authorities should, where possible, establish a local process to give communities the ability to make the case for the designation of a firework control zone, through a "community request".

The purpose of a community request is to provide communities themselves with a route to ask a local authority to formally consider whether a zone should be designated, amended or revoked in a particular place within its area. The Act does not make provision about community requests, however they can be a valuable tool for a local authority to become aware of local concerns about fireworks use.

If a community request is accepted, this would begin the formal process of consideration of a zone as set out in Consultation on Firework Control Zones. A community request being accepted is therefore not the same as a zone being designated and does not negate the statutory requirement for a consultation to be carried out.

5.1 What is a Community?

A community making a community request can be any group of people who feel they have something in common; in many cases, this may be that they live in the same area. It can, however, also be that they share an interest or characteristic.

Communities of interest could include, but are not limited to: faith groups, ethnic or cultural groups, people affected by a particular illness or disability, sports clubs, conservation groups, clan and heritage associations, animal welfare groups, environmental groups. They may be very specialised or local with a small number of members, ranging up to national or international groups with thousands of members.^[77]

5.2 Community Request Process

The format and detail of a community request process will be determined by each local authority. This will enable the most appropriate process which fits local needs and circumstances to be put in place.

Local authorities may wish to consider whether any other request processes within their organisation could be adapted to work for the purpose of community requests for firework control zones. For example an existing petitions process, a participation request, or any other means through which communities are empowered to encourage a local authority to make changes.

To aid in the transparency of the community request process, local authorities may wish to set out local thresholds that must be met for a community request to be formally considered. Such thresholds are at the discretion of a local authority and the decision may be taken that setting thresholds is not an appropriate means of assessing community requests which are received in a local authority area. However, if the decision is taken to set local thresholds, the local authority must ensure that such thresholds are clearly publicised in order to raise awareness and manage the expectations of individuals and communities. Examples of these could include an evidential threshold, such as a number of complaints or incidents, or a threshold of requests being made. It is important to note, however, that these examples are purely illustrative and, as previously set out, local thresholds should be tailored to individual local circumstance and suited to the needs of the communities a local authority is serving.

While the format and detail of the community request process, and how it works in practice, should be determined by local circumstance and needs, it is important that communities are empowered to have a voice in decisions which affect them. The community request process should not be so prohibitive as to discourage communities from engaging.

A community request process established in a local authority should include:

• Published and accessible details of how to submit a community request, including advising of the format in which community requests should be made;
• Clearly communicated timings involved with submitting a community request, including the overall timing of a firework control zone being fully considered and consulted on to manage expectations;
• Who to contact within the local authority to make the request; and
• Where a request is made, an acknowledgement email to be sent within five working days wherever possible, although this may vary due to local circumstances.

Where a community request to consider a zone is made, a response should always be issued. Local authorities should endeavour to respond within a period of four weeks. If this is not feasible, a timeline for responding to this request should be provided to the requester, as well as any further changes to anticipated timings which may occur through the process. This is to ensure the requester remains aware of the status of their request.

The processes established at a local level for a community request should ensure that meaningful consideration is given to requests for a zone that are submitted. Local authorities should therefore take a proportionate approach and consider all available evidence to balance local concerns and community requests made against objective, locally set criteria.

Where, following a community request, a decision is taken to reject a request and not to proceed with consideration of a firework control zone proposal, local authorities should communicate the following to the requester:

• the rationale for this decision, with clear reasoning to show that meaningful consideration was given;
• the period which must elapse before further consideration can be given to another community request covering the same or similar geographical area (this should not exceed 12 months);
• an opportunity for the community to request a review of the decision within 28 days of being informed of the decision, with clear, defined criteria required for this review to lead to a community request being accepted.

Where, following a community request, the decision is taken to proceed with consideration of a firework control zone proposal, this should be clearly communicated to the requester, with an outline of the next steps in the process and estimated timelines for this. These should follow the same statutory processes for any proposal about a firework control zone, as outlined in the act and discussed in this Guidance in Consultation on Firework Control Zones. Local authorities may also wish to consider how to engage the requester in the awareness raising and encouraging participation of the community in a consultation that takes place as a result of the community request being submitted.

The timing associated with the community request process should be clearly communicated in order to manage expectations of communities who wish to be involved in the process. Table 1 sets out an estimated timeline for this process based on this guidance.

Table 1: Indicative timelines from a community request being made to a zone being designated

Task: Indicative Timing

Community request received, considered, and response issued: 4 weeks

If community request accepted, Local Authority develops consultation proposal for a zone: 4 weeks

Consultation on proposed zone undertaken: 12 weeks

Consultation responses considered and analysed: 4 weeks

Decision on a zone publicized: At least 60 days prior to the decision taking effect.

Total: 32 weeks

5.3 Reviewing a Decision

A requester may ask that an internal review of a decision is carried out if a local authority takes the decision to reject a community request. As with the community request itself, the format and detail of the internal review process should be determined by local authorities. Local authorities may wish to consider other similar processes which are utilised internally when considering this process. This will enable the most appropriate process which fits local needs and circumstances to be put in place.

At the point of the request being rejected, a local authority should provide the rationale for this decision, as well as clear and proportionate criteria for what a review must be able to demonstrate in order for the community request to be accepted.

Should the option of a review be exercised, this should not be handled by the same individual or group who handled the response to the initial request wherever possible. This is in order to ensure that impartiality is maintained throughout the process and that the individual handling the review may evaluate the information on merit, with no previous biases.