§ Lord Ashbourneasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have received representations from the police over the lack of automatic power to arrest those offenders who fail to register their name and address, as required by the Sex Offenders Act 1997. [HL859]
Number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates' courts and convicted1 at all courts for offences under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 19592 by area, 1991–1996 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Metropolitan Police area3 Prosecutions 227 105 206 215 219 214 Convictions 102 89 140 187 154 172 England and Wales Prosecutions 363 213 293 309 357 335 Convictions 218 172 209 266 259 262 1 Includes persons proceeded against in earlier years or for other offences. 2 Obscene Publications Act 1959 S2 (1) as amended by Obscene Publications Act 1964 Section 1(1). 3 Includes City of London.