§ Mr. BrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prosecutions have been brought and how many convictions obtained for hiring or selling video recordings to young people below the relevant minimim age classification in the last 12 months.
(2) how many prosecutions for hiring or selling unclassified video recordings have been brought (a) in the London borough of Newham (b) in the City of Westminster and (c) in England by trading standards officers in the last three months.
§ Mr. RentonThe latest information available centrally, which may be incomplete, relates to 1987. This indicates that in England and Wales there were six prosecutions under sections 9 and 10 of the Video Recordings Act 1984 for hiring or selling video recordings containing unclassified video works and two prosecutions under section 11 for hiring or selling video recordings to persons below the minimum age specified on the classification certificates issued in respect of works contained in the recordings. None of these prosecutions was in the City of Westminster; one under section 10 was in the London borough of Newham. The extension of enforcement powers to trading standards officers from September 1988 will result in far more prosecutions. I understand in several hundred cases already the British Board of Film Classification has been asked to certify (as evidence for use in criminal proceedings) whether works have been classified and, if so, under what classification.
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§ Mr. BrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he has received representations from the British Videogram Association about delays in classifying video titles by the British Board of Film Classification; and if he will make a statement;
(2) when his officials last met representatives of the British Board of Film Classification to discuss delays on classifying video titles.
§ Mr. RentonI am not aware of any recent representations from the British Videogram Association about delays at the British Board of Film Classification in classifying video works. Home Office officials are in regular contact with the board about the administration of
Police forces in England and Wales 31 December 1988 Chief Constable1 Deputy Chief Constable2 Assistant Chief Constable3 Chief Superintendent Avon and Somerset 1 1 3 14 Bedfordshire 1 1 1 5 Cambridgeshire 1 1 1 5 Cheshire 1 1 2 8 City of London 1 1 1 6 Cleveland 1 1 2 7 Cumbria 1 1 1 7 Derbyshire 1 1 2 9 Devon and Cornwall 1 1 3 13 Dorset 1 1 1 6 Durham 1 1 2 7 Dyfed-Powys 1 1 1 7 Essex 1 1 3 11 Gloucestershire 1 1 1 6 Greater Manchester 1 1 6 27 Gwent 1 1 1 5 Hampshire 1 1 3 10 Hertfordshire 1 1 2 9 Humberside 1 1 2 8 Kent 1 1 4 10 Lancashire 1 1 3 13 Leicestershire 1 1 2 7 Lincolnshire 1 1 1 5 Merseyside 1 1 4 19 Metropolitan 1 16 38 158 Norfolk 1 1 1 7 Northamptonshire 1 1 1 6 Northumbria 1 1 3 13 North Wales 1 1 1 7 North Yorkshire 1 1 1 7 Nottinghamshire 1 1 2 8 South Wales 1 1 3 14 South Yorkshire 1 1 3 11 Staffordshire 1 1 1 11 Suffolk 1 1 1 6 Surrey 1 1 2 7 Sussex 1 1 3 12 Thames Valley 1 1 3 12 Warwickshire 1 1 1 5 West Mercia 1 1 2 10 West Midlands 1 1 5 21 West Yorkshire 1 1 4 20 Wiltshire 1 1 1 6 Total 48 58 128 565 1 Includes ranks of assistant commissioner and above in the Metropolitan police and commissioner in the City of London police. 2 Includes deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan police and assistant commissioner in the City of London police. 3 Includes commanders in the Metropolitan police and the City of London police.