Recommendation 8

We are concerned about reports of illegal sales of fireworks online, particularly over social media. It’s imperative that consumer fireworks are only sold to the public through legitimate retailers with the appropriate licences and staff with the appropriate level of training to advise customers about safe and responsible use. It appears local authority Trading Standards teams lack the necessary skills and resources to address illegal online sales effectively. We recommend the Government conduct a review of online sales of fireworks, with a particular focus on sales via social media, with a view to establishing a national, cross-agency strategy to tackle the problem. The strategy should include measures to exert pressure on social media companies to identify and remove posts advertising unlicensed or illegal fireworks for sale on their platforms. We recommended this review be conducted, and a strategy published, before October 2020. We are concerned about reports of illegal sales of fireworks online, particularly over social media. It’s imperative that consumer fireworks are only sold to the public through legitimate retailers with the appropriate licences and staff with the appropriate level of training to advise customers about safe and responsible use. It appears local authority Trading Standards teams lack the necessary skills and resources to address illegal online sales effectively. We recommend the Government conduct a review of online sales of fireworks, with a particular focus on sales via social media, with a view to establishing a national, cross-agency strategy to tackle the problem. The strategy should include measures to exert pressure on social media companies to identify and remove posts advertising unlicensed or illegal fireworks for sale on their platforms. We recommended this review be conducted, and a strategy published, before October 2020.