Seòmar agus comataidhean

I understand that caveat, and on balance I am probably convinced by the approach of having set days for the sale and use of fireworks. It still seems a wee bit unfair for people with autism, pet owners and whoever to have to put in place mitigation measures, including leaving their own homes, come new year. Of course, that option would not have been open to them the past two new years, when fireworks were used.

I have a final question. Has the Government carried out any assessment of the impact of picking the specific dates that are included in the bill on event organisers and retailers such as the independent retailer from Aberdeen who gave evidence last week?

I join my colleagues in welcoming you back to the committee today, minister. It is great to see you looking happy and healthy and very enthusiastic about this area of work, which we all know you have been a lifelong champion of.

As the convener said, your portfolio is incredibly big. I want to ask about the racial equality framework, which had a high priority in the previous parliamentary session. You appeared before our predecessor committee and came several times to the cross-party group, which I then chaired, to discuss the framework. You will be aware that at the end of the parliamentary session there was some criticism of the framework, with stakeholders saying that it was making slow progress. I was pleased to hear about the new immediate priorities plan that you outlined. Could you talk a wee bit about how that is progressing and what we hope to get from it? It would be helpful if you could focus on the employment gap for ethnic minorities and occupational segregation.

Thank you for that very comprehensive answer. You have anticipated many of my supplementary questions. The convener will be glad to know that I do not have many more questions.

I will focus on employment, as that is where we have ended up. As you mentioned, that extends across other portfolios, such as Richard Lochhead’s. However, taking a general overview, do you think that if the plan is successful and does what we hope it will do, it will have a big impact on employment? You know how much of a concern that was to the committee in the previous session—I know that that committee did not have exactly the same remit as this committee. There was a review of that area and, as you know, it is an issue that comes up often.

On the back of Collette Stevenson’s line of questioning, I want to ask about the dates that are proposed in the bill. We have raised some concerns about this issue in previous evidence sessions, and I have asked other witnesses about it. I have to say that those to whom we have spoken have generally been in favour of the proposals, which has reassured me as a committee member. I am guessing, though, that you might have a different view, and, if so, I want to give you the opportunity to explain it.

One of our concerns with the Government—or, ultimately, the Parliament—setting dates is that other dates that might be important to people will have to be ruled out. Do you envisage difficulties with the bill setting out certain days when fireworks can be used and other days when they cannot, given that some of the days when they cannot be used might be important festivals or milestones for individuals? Indeed, as Pauline McNeill has mentioned a couple of times, people might then choose to use fireworks on days that might not necessarily be festivals for them, if that makes sense. Can I get your views on that?

Thank you.

Is the first of those three types the low-noise firework?

I will take the opportunity to ask a question while I have the fireworks experts in front of me. I will not get a better opportunity.

Can you explain in layman’s terms what “low-noise” is and what it means? What would that mean for someone with normal hearing? Also, if you have the information, what might that mean for dogs? They hear things differently.

You made your view of the overall bill pretty clear in your opening remarks, but on the assumption that the Parliament is going to pass legislation on the matter, you will want to be involved in certain aspects of it. Given that, what do you think about the date proposals? Should no dates be specified at all? Of course, that would bring its own complications, given that there would be days—new year, for example—when what you have suggested could happen. Should local authorities have the flexibility to meet individual needs and requirements, which is something else that we have heard about?

I see Andy Hubble nodding. Do you want to respond to that question?

You have made that point, which the committee has heard throughout its evidence sessions. I suppose that the point that I was making—I will put it to Andy Hubble too—was about the message that is sent. We might well be on a journey; I think that the committee has at the back of its mind the thought that the bill might be part of a journey, rather than the end, on the way to somewhere that the public find more acceptable with regard to fireworks. That is why we are saying that the bill is about the Parliament and the Government sending a message, while making it clear that it might not solve all the issues. Does Andy Hubble have any views on that?

In relation to the point about the differing views of local authorities, they have been democratically elected and I do not have a lot of difficulty with different local authorities making different decisions, because they make decisions based on the manifestos that they stood on and what the public in their areas want.

That brings me on to my final question, convener, if that is all right. It is more of a general question. You have put forward a good case and have articulated it really well, but it will not be any surprise to you to hear that it is the opposite from what we have heard up to now. Fraser Stevenson acknowledged that. You have made some good points, certainly, but then I think back to 6, 7 and 8 November and to other dates since I became an MSP, when my inbox has been flooded with messages from people—including pet owners and people with autistic children—wondering what the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government are going to do about fireworks.

As we have discussed, the world has moved on since we were young. I grew up in the 1980s and we loved fireworks, but the world has moved on. We understand people’s needs better now, and we have more of a community spirit in relation to people who do not like fireworks. In the past, if you had an autistic child, that was just tough, but that is not the case any more—quite rightly so. That is where the Government and Parliament are coming from.

I am rambling on a bit, so I will ask my question. Do you have any sympathy with any part of the legislation? It might not solve the fireworks issue overnight and it might create some of the issues that you have mentioned, but this is partly about changing our relationship with fireworks—changing the culture of fireworks in Scotland—and making that slow progress. I put it to you that it is also about the powerful message that can be given by a Government and Parliament passing legislation so that we can say to the people who contact us, “This may not be perfect legislation, but we hear what you say and we will try to do something about it.”