Ofcom Release Prosecution Statistics for 2006/7

After a long delay Ofcom have finally released the prosecution statistics for the Financial Year 2006/7.

It is unclear why Ofcom have waited so long to release the statistics but they can now be seen at
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/enforcement/
pstats/stats0607

What is noticeable is the total absence of any action as far as the Marine service is concerned. It appeared as a seperate item in the 2005/6 statistics but there is no sign of it in the latest figures. If one were to listen to VHF Marine band one may well find numerous breaches of the regulations including use of marine band equipment on-shore.

There were no prosecutions in the Amateur Service, only a single warning letter was sent out.

In a recent news release (Feb 2008) Ofcom acknowledged that there are more than 150 unlicensed Broadcast Stations operating in the UK. Yet it would appear from the statistics that they take action against only a third of them every year.

The question that springs to mind is
"Does Ofcom assign sufficient resources to enforcement to enable the hard-pressed field staff to fully carry out their role ?"

In the past few years Ofcom have only issued two news releases on enforcement actions:

Nov 2005: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2005/11/illegal

Feb 2008: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2008/02/
nr_20080219a

In the United States the Federal Regulator the FCC (equivalent of Ofcom) makes a point of publicising enforcement actions that they take. In the case of Amateur Radio operators they publish the name, call sign and details of the action taken.

Although provision for a Fixed Penalty Fine system was introduced with the UK Wireless Telegraphy Act well over a year ago as yet nothing has been set up to implement it.

Ofcom Prosecution Statistics
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/
enforcement/pstats/

Ofcom Prosecution Statistics for 2005/6 http://www.southgatearc.org/news/october2006/
ofcom_prosecution_statistics.htm