Fireworks Survey

In recent years, we’ve faced significant challenges in the south of Edinburgh with violence and disorder around Halloween and Bonfire Night.

In particular, at the end of 2024, we saw extremely troubling disorder in places such as Gracemount and Moredun. In response, I brought police, council officers and local residents groups together for a series of community meetings to build a safer way forward. I also contacted all major supermarkets in the south of the city about their role in selling fireworks locally.

During the 2025 Halloween/Bonfire Night period, police saw 37% fewer callouts and there was no return of the chaos seen in previous years. I’m grateful to our emergency service workers, whose vigilance kept communities safe, as well as to local youth workers, who did vital work engaging with young people throughout the year.

While this was a real improvement, there’s more to do. It’s Spring right now, but planning is already underway for this year’s fireworks period. To help inform future preparations, I want to understand your experiences of the fireworks period in 2025, roughly from 31 October to 6 November, compared with previous years.

My survey asks for your views on:

• Fireworks activity in your area and how it compared with previous years.
• The effectiveness of actions taken by the Council and the police, including Firework Control Zones and police patrols.
• The difference made by local supermarkets not selling fireworks following my letter asking them to refrain from doing so.
• Possible future steps, including whether an outright ban on fireworks should be explored.

Your feedback will help build a clearer picture of what’s working, what isn’t, and what our community wants going forward. Every response is valuable, and the survey only takes a few minutes to complete. I will share the anonymised results of the survey with the police and the Council to inform planning for future years.

Please note only constituents of Edinburgh South can take part in this survey.