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Mr Hubble, do you want to comment?

My colleagues will have further questions on noise levels and silent fireworks, so I will not pursue that point.

Mr Donald, would you like to comment?

Good morning. You will be aware that the committee has heard compelling evidence from the police and the fire service that legislation is required. In last year’s public consultation, 94 per cent of people wanted greater control over sale of fireworks and there was widespread support for a ban.

In your submissions, you concentrate on misuse of fireworks and accidents that happen with fireworks, but I put it to you that people have other problems with fireworks. People with autism or neurodiversity have problems and pet owners have the problems of animal distress, as a consequence of fireworks going off and the noise that they make.

From reading through your submissions, I see that you want virtually nothing to be done and no new legislation. How would you address those problems? The public want something be done very much. Fireworks go off at new year and on bonfire night, but in my, and most people’s, experience they go off a lot more often than that. Do you have any proposals to show that you understand the nuisance that the public are experiencing?

That is great—we would welcome your working with us—but the problem is that you have not come up with any changes today. Given that, basically, you do not want any changes, how could you work with us?

To clarify: you do not want anything to be done. You do not think that any changes at all are necessary.

Is Mr Donald still with us?

I will continue in the same vein as the last line of questioning. We have heard about the damage, antisocial behaviour and concern around fireworks, and when we consulted the public in our previous public engagement, there was wide support for an outright ban on fireworks. What is your response to that?

I have a slightly different question on licensing for Julie Whitelaw. Do you feel that you have enough detail at this stage about how that will work in practice? I am keen to know what you think. For example, I can imagine that, in my neighbourhood, hundreds of people might apply for a licence to use fireworks on or around fireworks day. It seems that that process would be quite labour intensive. Do you have the staffing resources to deal with it? Has the detail of how the system is going to work in practice been negotiated with West Lothian Council and other local authorities?

Chief Inspector Robison, I do not know whether you want to comment on those questions; you should feel free to do so if you want.

It is proposed that the licensing scheme will involve a fee. Do you think that imposing a fee might lead to some sort of black market, or to online scams in which the quality and safety of fireworks are less assured? Is there scope for fraud in licensing? Could people who want to misuse fireworks play the system to get them?

I put that question to David MacKenzie first.