§ Mr. Maclennanasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will itemise (a) the total number of prosecutions brought and (b) the total number of convictions secured for offences involving unathorised possession and use of citizens band radio equipment in each of the last six years; and if he will further categorise these by the type of offence charged.
§ Mr. Butcher[pursuant to his reply, 27 March 1986, c. 613]: It is an offence under section 1 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 to use radio equipment except under and in accordance with a licence granted by the Secretary of State. The list shows the number of persons prosecutred and convicted for offences related to citizens band radio for the years 1980 to 1985. No central record of the particular circumstances of offences was kept until recently. Prior to 2 November 1981 it was an offence to use any form of CB radio equipment in the United Kingdom.
It is not at present an offence to possess CB radio equipment which cannot legally be used in the United Kingdom. Powers under the Telecommunications Act 1984 will enable us to restrict the sale and possession of 24W AM and FM CB equipment of this nature, and we expect to lay an order before Parliament with this effect later this year. Following is the information:
Year Persons prosecuted Persons convicted 1980 471 457 1981 879 855 1982 2,335 2,299 1983 1,470 1,445 1984 1,170 1,160 1985 940 932