§ Mr. MaclennanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the adequacy of the enforcement of the Obscene Publications Act 1959.
§ Mr. MacleanThe enforcement of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 is a matter for the police, and it is for the chief officers concerned to allocate resources to particular police activities. The Government are, however, most concerned to ensure that the law on obscenity is enforced as effectively as possible, and we take special account of the views of those who actually enforce the legislation, particularly when they identify gaps in the law which should be closed. That is why we have come forward in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill with a number of measures designed to improve matters in this area. These were described in the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) on 7 December 1993, at column163.
The most recent statistics we have for prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act are for 1992. In that year, there were 213 prosecutions and 171 convictions under section 2 of the Act. Figures for seizures and forfeitures under section 3 of the Act are not collected centrally. However, from inquiries we have made of the two largest forces in England and Wales—the Metropolitan police and Greater Manchester—both of which have specialised obscene publications squads, I understand that a total of 234,386 items were seized by them in 1992.
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