§ Mr. Winnickasked the Prime Minister if it is intended that lengthy visits by Ministers will be made to other areas where disturbances have recently taken place.
§ The Prime MinisterI shall await a report from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment before deciding what further action to take in relation to other areas where disturbances have recently taken place.
§ Mr. Winnickasked the Prime Minister if it is intended for the Secretary of State for the Environment to make lengthy visits to places other than Liverpool; if so, if she will state the areas concerned and the proposed duration of the visits; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterI shall consider the next steps when my right hon. Friend has reported on his visit to Liverpool.
Mr. Winnick asked the Prime Minister what are the reasons for the Secretary of State for the Environment's 286W of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839 and (iv) section 5 of the Public Order Act 1936; and how many prosecutions were brought against individuals accused of nudity in public by private prosecution and how many convictions resulted.
§ Mr. Mayhew[pursuant to his reply, 20 July, c. 6]: The information available centrally for 1977 to 1979 is given in the following table; comparable figures for 1975 and 1976 are not available. Information is separately available for only some of the subsections of section 28 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and of section 54 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839. Our records for 1977–79 do not separately identify offences under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1936 from offences under other sections of the Act or under the Public Meetings Act 1908. Information on some subsections of section 4 of the Vagrancy Act is published in the "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales"—offence classifications 139, 182, 183, 185 and 186 in table 1(a) of the volume for 1979, Cmnd. 8098. Information on private prosecutions is not available on a reliable basis.
visit to Liverpool; for how long he will be there; what report will be made to the House arising from his visit; and what assessments will be made on the visit.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 16 July during the debate on civil disorders in Great Britain.