§ Mr. WatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions have been brought by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each of the last 10 years; and how many of them have resulted in convictions. [145242]
§ Mr. JamiesonPrior to 1995, prosecutions by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency were conducted by local offices. In 1995 the process was started to centralise these prosecutions, and by 1998 the central unit had became fully functional. Data prior to 1995 is not available.50W
Year Number of prosecutions Number of convictions 1995 1 1 1996 2 2 1997 4 4 1998 8 8 1999 10 10 2000 9 9 2001 110 9 2002 113 12 2003 7 7 1 In both 2001 and 2002 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency did joint investigations with the police. The Crown Prosecution Service and not the Maritime and Coastguard Agency undertook the prosecutions which did not result in a conviction.