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Good afternoon to our panel of guests. I have two questions, which I think must be directed to Julie Whitelaw—I am sorry to pick on you, but I think that you are the only local authority representative from whom we will take evidence, given the nature of efforts to squeeze in evidence sessions.

How realistic is it to think that a licensing scheme can be up and running this year? The Government has the ambitious timescale of putting the proposed restrictions in place by bonfire night this year. We have expressed a little disquiet about that; we want to get the legislation right. Indeed, we think that the licensing scheme will not feature in the bill and will probably be the subject of regulations, which the committee will have to consider subsequently.

Given that there are so many known unknowns, of which we do not have details, how quickly will councils be able to set up schemes? It is councils that will be required to administer the schemes. Is it realistic to do that in time for this year’s bonfire night? Will that come at a financial or resource cost for councils? Will you be able to meet the demands that might be placed on you in the coming months?

That is great. Thank you for that. That is all I have for now, convener.

Thank you. That feedback was helpful.

Good. Thank you.

That is very helpful and interesting. Of course, it gets dark quite early in winter, so people are more likely to see fireworks at the time of day that you talked about.

I appreciate the long answer, because that explanation was required to give us the backdrop to how you got to where you are.

I guess that a range of options would have been available to you. However, it strikes me as a little bit concerning—this is my only point of concern—that the industry that will be affected most by the regulations is the one that did not sign up to the recommendations. That is an odd position to be in.

The three strands in the consultation were the sale, purchase and use of fireworks. It seems to me that, although support is high, at 84 per cent, for the control of purchase using a licence scheme, the support wanes slightly, going down to 67 per cent, for restrictions on the use of fireworks, and wanes even further, going down to 64 per cent, when we get down to restrictions on the sale of fireworks, which is perhaps the strand with which the BFA had a lot of issues.

Is it not an issue for you that the people who will go out of business or who will be most immediately affected by the bill do not agree with the way that we are proposing to tackle the problem?

I have a final question. I am absolutely playing devil’s advocate, because we have heard evidence about attacks on emergency services and the effect that they have on a community. Everyone acknowledges and accepts that those attacks are abhorrent, but people will question whether we are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Is there a reason why we are introducing laws to restrict the purchase, sale and use of fireworks across the whole of the population when it is a minority of people who misuse and abuse them, in the same way that a minority of people misuse kitchen knives or alcohol, and third party objects are used to fuel antisocial behaviour? Are we punishing the majority because of the minority? That is a valid question that we will have to answer as the bill progresses.

Perhaps the problem here arises in the move from simple possession of a pyrotechnic to possession while

“travelling to, in the immediate vicinity of ... a designated venue ... or ... a public procession, or ... a public assembly.”

Public processions and assemblies happen in public places such as George Square or Princes Street. The fact that the term “travelling to” is so vague is perhaps part of the problem. After all, anyone could reasonably say that they were not “travelling to” a venue or procession. That would be the immediate defence; it would be argued that what was illegal was not possession of the item itself, but possessing it while “travelling to” an event. Is that the sort of vagueness that you are trying to avoid?

To be honest, I think that these questions are probably for the minister, but I get the impression that the problem that we are trying to fix is people chucking flares at football games or certain religious processions.

As no one else has a view on that, I will move on to the issue of giving flexibility to local authorities, which you mentioned.

Do you think that it would be beneficial if, outwith the sale and use periods that are defined in the bill, individuals, groups and organisations, religious or otherwise, could apply, on a local authority by local authority basis, for exceptions for specific events under the other measures in the scheme? I am thinking, for example, of the Edinburgh festival, jubilee celebrations or other events at other dates and times that may be outwith the defined periods. That might make it easier to cover the issue of people who may feel excluded because of the very specific and narrow periods that have been included in the bill. Would there be any benefit to that?