§ Mr. Gorstasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department has spent on tracing and taking action against pirate radio broadcasters within the United Kingdom during each of the past five years; how much is being spent during the current year: arid whether he has any plans to increase expenditure during the forthcoming year.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherIt is not possible to identify separately the amount spent on tracing and taking action against pirate radio stations from the total spent on 361W monitoring the frequency spectrum and dealing with illicit use of radio. However, in 1983, 97 raids were carried out on pirate radio stations and 40 persons convicted, compared with 60 raids and 10 persons convicted in 1982. We intend to continue to give action against pirate radio stations a high degree of priority.