Firework control zones: guidance for local authorities

6. Alternative Approaches to Firework Control Zones

Designation of firework control zones is a discretionary power for local authorities, providing the option of a specific targeted response that meets the needs of communities. However, this tool is one within a range of enforcement and preventative tools available to seek to resolve issues involving fireworks. Firework control zones have not been designed to be the first or only step taken by local authorities to tackle issues associated with firework use, to be used extensively, or to encompass an entire local authority area.

On a national level, Operation Moonbeam^[78] has operated over a four-day period in the run up to and on 5th November since 2018. Operation Moonbeam is a well-established and recognised multi-agency response to the challenges of the bonfire night period. Planning for previous operations has typically commenced around June each year with multi-agency coordination involving the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Ambulance Service, local authorities, Scottish Government, the Scottish Community Safety Network, the British Fireworks Association, Trading Standards, and others.

Local authorities across Scotland have a wealth of knowledge and experience of preventing, planning for, and responding to issues involving fireworks using a multi-agency approach. The creation of local action plans tailored to local communities and their own circumstances ensures that the most appropriate actions are identified, agreed upon by partners and available when needed. There are, therefore, many good practice examples from which to draw on and these, or similar, approaches may be effective options to implement locally instead of, prior to, or alongside a firework control zone.

This section sets out a non-exhaustive range of activities that have been successfully utilised in some areas. Local authorities and community safety partners will, of course, continue to develop and implement appropriate combinations of interventions to best fit local needs.

Two case studies, from West Lothian Council and City of Edinburgh Council, are included to demonstrate how these approaches can be utilised in tandem to maximise the effectiveness of any interventions.

6.1 Community Engagement and Awareness Raising

During the development of this guidance, communities highlighted the importance of engagement and awareness raising of the work which is carried out in communities to prevent, plan for, and respond to incidents involving fireworks. This included sharing information to help people to improve their knowledge and understanding of the rules around where and when fireworks can be used, as well as the options for reporting concerns or instances of fireworks misuse. In those areas which have been significantly affected by the misuse of fireworks, the consensus was that it is important to empower communities to engage and make a difference.

For example, when communities in Blackburn (see case study, below) and Pollokshields shared their experiences, they emphasised that learning how they could engage with existing campaigns was an empowering experience for the community and made them feel that they could influence change and make a difference. In particular, they highlighted the Crimestoppers anonymous reporting tools, and learning how this helped local police to understand the nature and scale of incidents in an area to deploy resources effectively, as being important in addressing the challenges faced in their community.

Social media campaigns are a particularly effective means of spreading key messages throughout a community, and represent an increasingly common source of news for adults in Scotland.^[79] However, communities also indicated the value of direct engagement. Examples of this in practice can include, for example, local authorities and enforcement partners attending community council meetings to raise awareness and provide reassurances about reporting firework related concerns.

Local authorities may also wish to engage with the materials produced for the annual Fireworks Rules and Regulations campaign. This is a Scottish Government partnership campaign led by Crimestoppers and their youth arm, Fearless, in conjunction with local community safety partners; and Police Scotland Youth Volunteers. The campaign engages with local residents and schools and is designed to improve knowledge and understanding of the rules and regulations around where and when fireworks can be used. Although the campaign is targeted specifically in geographical areas where there have historically been higher levels of fireworks misuse, the materials produced could be utilised in other communications.

6.2 Enforcement Activities

As well as the national-level Operation Moonbeam, a range of local planning and enforcement activities are carried out across Scotland. These are dependent on local policing approaches and are often focussed on certain times of the year, particularly the bonfire night period. Therefore, while the examples set out below may not be possible in every local authority area, they encompass a range of good practice examples.

Targeted use of police and fire service resources have been used in areas with significant and ongoing issues with fireworks misuse. This might include increased patrols, high visibility patrols, mobile units, or the targeted use of community wardens. For a targeted approach such as this to maximise its impact, however, encouraging communities to report incidents to allow for an accurate picture of "hotspots" to be established is essential. A small number of dispersal zones have been set up in Scotland to address issues regarding firework misuse around bonfire night.^[80] Dispersal Orders provide the power^[81] to disperse groups of two or more people congregating and engaged in anti-social behaviour within a dispersal zone. Indications are that dispersal zones have been a useful tool where utilised locally.

Trading Standards can also visit retailers to carry out retailer compliance checks. This is to ensure that rules and regulations relating to sale of fireworks are adhered to, and are an opportunity to provide advice on legal and responsible sale and storage of fireworks, including test purchasing for underage sales.

6.3 Engaging with Young People

Although quantitative evidence indicates that the vast majority of young people in Scotland abide by the law,^[82] anecdotal evidence suggests that a significant proportion of antisocial behaviour involving fireworks is carried out by young people. Preventing children and young people from going down a path where they are in conflict with the law and supporting them appropriately, constructively and effectively when they do is integral to the Scottish Government's approach^[83] and we are committed to adopting preventative and educational approaches as per Lord Kilbrandon's report.^[84] Furthermore, we have heard from communities in developing this guidance that engagement with young people is key to preventing firework-related disturbance, particularly by highlighting the community and wider societal impacts of this misuse. It is therefore best practice for local authorities to engage proactively with young people to highlight bonfire safety and the importance of safe and responsible firework use, as well as the dangers and consequences of misuse, to prevent offending from taking place.

In the lead up to bonfire night, educational inputs at primary and secondary schools in conjunction with Campus Officers, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are carried out in some areas to raise awareness of the issues related to the misuse of fireworks. In some areas, these are complimented by youth intervention visits, which are home visits to young people who are identified as being a potential concern over the bonfire period, for example those who have engaged in firework-related antisocial behaviour before, or those who are more susceptible or vulnerable to 'peer pressure'. The purpose of these visits, as well as acting as a deterrent, is to provide advice and information to the vulnerable young people and steer them away from antisocial behaviour.

Targeted intervention has also been delivered by Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service through restorative justice initiatives in some communities. These are designed to encourage behaviour change among local young people who have been involved in firework-related antisocial behaviour in previous years. This is done through focusing on the consequences of this behaviour, not just for the individual, but also for the victims, and has direct input from the victims in the community and the Scottish SPCA.

Games are also an increasingly popular tool aimed at encouraging positive behaviours in children and young people.^[85][86][87] The Scottish SPCA have developed online materials and games for primary^[88] and secondary^[89] school pupils on the subject of firework safety, based on the real experiences of a child who was seriously injured by fireworks when they were four years old.^[90] These may be useful resources for a local authority to consider when engaging with young people or developing future resources for any such engagement.

Case Studies

Blackburn Bonfire Night Action Group ("BBNAG")

The BBNAG is a multi-agency group which was established in April 2019 in response to persistent issues with high levels of anti-social behaviour in the area during bonfire season in previous years.

The evidence of the need for the group came not only from statistical data from the emergency services but also from the community themselves, who highlighted their concerns during the development of their locality plan (Blackburn's Future Plan).

The group was tasked with using a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to address the needs of the community and to reduce the anti-social behaviour relating to bonfires and firework misuse.

From inception, the group met monthly in the lead up to bonfire night. This approach was to maintain momentum with the services involved but also to highlight to the community that the issue was being taken seriously. The meetings increased in frequency from September up to bonfire night.

The meetings were attended by a range of partners and services and community representatives from local organisations. The BBNAG developed an action plan that was identified in the first meeting with themes to be concentrated on. Additional resource was brought together from a range of organisations/services showing a partnership approach. The themes the group worked on were:

• Joint environmental visual audits/high visibility of agencies in hot spot areas;
• Events and activities prior to and on the night;
• Education and awareness raising.

Community engagement and awareness raising activities proved integral to addressing the concerns raised by the community of not feeling listened to or kept updated on issues that are related to them – this enabled the breaking down of barriers that had been long in place between the community and key services, enabling a renewed faith in reporting issues.

Sessions were delivered every month in various public locations. Information boards were used to provide details on the work that the BBNAG were undertaking and provide key national messages from Crimestoppers, SSPCA, SFRS, Trading Standards. The BBNAG took the lead on ensuring the resources from Crimestoppers and Fearless were distributed widely within the community.

Diversionary Activities were planned and delivered on the run up to and on bonfire night involving a range of partners and services. Funding was provided by a range of partners including local organisations and Police Scotland. Involvement during the first year from Shell Twilight Basketball saw the establishment of a weekly session being delivered in Blackburn. This provided young people with a safe place to be at times of peak anti-social behaviour within the community. An event was also held on the night of the 5 November; this was split into two sessions, one for younger children and then one later for the older ones. Various activities were delivered including arts and crafts, multi-sports, music and DJ-ing classes, balloon modelling, competitions, raffle, and a free barbeque. Sessions were supported by a wide range of services with donations for prizes being provided by local businesses. Funding was provided by a range of partners, again showing a partnership approach.

A one-off event has been delivered every year since 2019 (except in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and has provided an outlet for young people to attend so that they are not tempted by anti-social behaviour. This has provided a focal point for services to work with young people and to raise awareness on risk taking behaviour. The events have been delivered at various times and dates each year.

Due to the work of the BBNAG the community of Blackburn feel that they have been listened to and kept updated on work to address anti-social behaviour. They have reported an improvement in the level of anti-social behaviour during the bonfire season, and feel safer within their community. The main contributory factor to the success was the partnership approach to addressing the issues within the community. The BBNAG will continue in 2023 using the same model of delivery, incorporating the ethos of partnership working.

Edinburgh Bonfire Community Improvement Partnership ("EBCIP")

The EBCIP is a multi-agency partnership formed in 2018 to co-ordinate preventative and community safety activity around the fireworks/ bonfire period in November to keep people safe and reduce fireworks/bonfire related crime and antisocial behaviour.

To encourage young people to keep safe during the fireworks/bonfire period, and as part of a wider programme to prevent antisocial behaviour and fireworks/bonfires harm, local community safety partners came together to fund and organise a range of diversionary activities including specific events at the Ratho Retreat Centre (the Centre) over three days; from Friday 4 November to Sunday 6 November 2022.

This was delivered by the Muirhouse Youth Development Group – a peer and volunteer-led organisation that empowers young people from North Edinburgh through putting relationships first. Over the weekend, a programme of activities for young people aged 11 and over to enjoy was delivered, including football, a silent disco, a haunted house, laser tag, a firepit, arts and crafts, a firework display, and food.

There was a peer support element to the activities as the youth workers attending and running the events also included some young people who previously had taken part in anti-social behaviour around fireworks/bonfire week.

The events were promoted through working with partners to identify who might engage in risk-taking behaviour. The focus was to engage young people at risk of getting caught up in anti-social behaviour to prevent them becoming involved as opposed to those who actively perpetrate disorder. The young people were required to book a place in advance, and 116 signed up to attend over the 3 nights of activity. Lothian Buses, a partner in the EBCIP, provided transport for the young people free of charge leaving from and returning to Craigroyston Community High School.

Each year, the younger people who have attended the events are involved in the planning of future activities. Creating this successful diversionary activity for young people over the fireworks/bonfire period is a collaborative process between local authority, police, and other partner youth agencies involving significant planning, as well as funding and a will to make it happen.

Feedback from the families of the young people who attended confirmed that they appreciated the events and felt reassured that their children and young people were engaged in positive, safe activities.

"If I wasn't here, I'd probably be watching the older ones with the police" (boy aged 11)

"Our mums wouldn't let us out if it wasn't for this being organised" (girls aged 13 and 14)

"Can we come to a session more than one night next year?" (boy aged 16)