Scrap Metal Theft

Graham Allen Excerpts

Monday 18th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Graham Allen (Nottingham North) (Lab)]

It is wonderful that so many Members are here for this important debate. Scrap metal theft is destructive, distressing and expensive. It is poorly legislated for, and we need to put that right.

Every MP has their own stories about metal theft and its impact. Mine are about, among other things, the desecration of war memorials; the destruction of phone services, church roofs and park benches; a school in Nottinghamshire remaining closed today, affecting 500 children aged three to 11, following thieves stripping lead from the roofs, which then collapsed into a classroom overnight, as the Priestsic primary school in Sutton-in-Ashfield bears witness to—there could have been a tragedy; the theft last week of the lead from the St Leodegarius church in my constituency, where my great grandfather was married; and my waiting at St Pancras station with hundreds of others the other week because of train cancellations caused by theft of trackside cabling not so long ago.

This even followed me on holiday to the Isle of Skye in Scotland last week, where cable thieves stupidly targeted fibre optic cables, leaving 9,000 homes and business in the north-west highlands not only without broadband and phone lines, but cut off from emergency services; a whole community was deprived of ambulance, fire and police services. These thieves are not the brightest buttons in the box; sadly for them, nine of them have died in commissioning this sort of crime in the past year.

In my city of Nottingham, 590 offences were recorded in the past 12 months; some 48% of all reported metal thefts come from people’s homes and 45% were thefts of lead from buildings. That is why I was asked by my city to convene two meetings with Ministers, for which I am most grateful. One was with the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice in October 2011 and the other was with Lord Henley, the Minister in the other place, in December 2011. I went with local crime reduction officers and Councillor Alex Norris from Nottingham to put forward our proposals, some of which are now coming to fruition in this Chamber. What all this demonstrates is that the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 is woefully insufficient to regulate this crime.

[Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend talks about thefts from the home, and he is, of course, concentrating on metal theft. May I just tell the House that in Leicester the theft of gold is particularly affecting many Asian families and Asian businesses? I do not think that gold is covered by the legislation to which he just referred, so if the Minister is going to introduce proposals and take steps—I know he has been examining this—I hope they will deal with the theft of gold.

[Mr Allen]

My hon. Friend makes his point in his normal astute way, remaining well within the bounds of order, as we would expect.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

I do wonder whether gold is really scrap, so I think we are stretching the boundaries. But at least the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth) has got it on the record and I am sure that he would want us to get back to the subject in hand.

[Mr Allen]

I am sure that the Minister has taken note of this new and innovative branch of the scrap metal business and may well be thinking about introducing legislation as we speak.

I have certainly understood the concern about scrap metal theft over the past week or so, because I have been inundated with individuals and organisations who have become aware of this debate and who have written to me, telephoned me or e-mailed me about how serious the situation is. Changes do need to be made. These are changes that will be welcomed by the vast majority of legitimate scrap metal dealers. They operate within a £5.6 billion industry and employ 8,000 people across the UK. Most of those people will welcome some of the proposals that hon. Members are collectively putting forward.

I welcome what the Government have done to trial and now to expand Operation Tornado to cover the whole country. Operation Tornado makes those selling scrap metal to participating dealers provide proof of their identity and it was an outstanding success when trialled in Durham and Cleveland, sparking a 55% reduction in thefts. I was delighted to see Operation Tornado being adopted by the Nottinghamshire police force a few months ago.

As campaigning Members of Parliament throughout the House realise, much more needs to be done. Many colleagues who are present in the Chamber tonight have put this matter on the record in various ways. In particular, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Graham Jones) for what he has done in recent weeks, for his efforts and for his Bill. He should be listened to when legislation on this issue is considered.

I welcome the announcement made by the hon. Member for Croydon South (Richard Ottaway) that he will dedicate his precious private Member’s Bill to this matter. His initial proposals, which I have had a chance to look at, are very welcome but he knows as well as I do the delicate road he must negotiate under the archaic private Member’s Bill process if he is to get his proposal into law. If he wishes to try, I would be happy to accompany him through that dark and deadly legislative jungle. I hope that the Minister will draw strength from those of us in the Chamber and from many Members who are not so that he is cast in the part of not the silent assassin of the hon. Gentleman’s Bill but the Indiana Jones of scrap metal.

[Richard Ottaway (Croydon South) (Con)]

As someone who once upon a time represented the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, I can empathise with his situation. I assure him that ever since I announced that I was introducing my Bill, it has received a substantial amount of support. I might be counting my chickens before they are hatched, but I am optimistic that I might be able to persuade the Government to back the Bill.

[Mr Allen]

I think that people from all parties will wish to support that. These procedures are full of trips, traps and minefields, but I will assist the hon. Gentleman if he wishes and I am sure that our combined experience, and that of our colleagues, will be able to placate any forces in the depths of Government that do not want private Member’s Bills to succeed. His Bill will be to the credit of everyone involved, including the Government, if it can be given a fair wind.

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman rightly mentioned metal thefts in the north-east and those of us who represent constituencies there have been particularly concerned by metal theft from churches and war memorials. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that any future law on metal theft should have as an aggravating offence—and therefore attracting corresponding sentences—the theft from churches, war memorials and children’s graves?

[Mr Allen]

Those offences are especially odious. There is no good theft, but when people melt down the memorial to two children who were killed by the IRA in Warrington or personal emblems and memorials to those who have passed away, often for the sake of £10-worth of scrap, the hurt and damage done massively outweighs any profit to the criminal. If the hon. Gentleman finds his way on to the Committee that considers any relevant legislation, perhaps he could table an amendment on that specific point.

Let me turn to the areas for serious reform. I will take interventions on these points, as the Minister has kindly indicated that he wants to hear the voices of hon. Members. First, the Government must replace the current registration scheme and the police should be given greater powers to close unscrupulous scrap metal dealers. A range of sanctions should be created, perhaps like those mentioned by the hon. Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman), against anyone operating without a licence or those found in breach of their licence conditions. It should be an offence for a scrap metal dealer to trade without a licence and a crime to sell metal to an unregistered scrap metal dealer.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. Does he agree that the current situation, where we have the ban on cash sales, which is very welcome, but we do not have a full and proper licensing regime in place, encourages a black market, which we must crack down on with exactly the kind of licensing regime that he suggests?

[Mr Allen]

The hon. Gentleman anticipates my argument. I agree with him.

A new licensing system must include the power to refuse an application if there are concerns about the integrity of the dealer. This is something that the present registration system does not allow, although it would make it less likely that stolen metal was sold on to scrap metal dealers. A set of conditions should be met before a licence is issued, and there should be the powers of suspension and revocation. The current inability of the police to enter the premises of unlicensed operators without a warrant in pursuit of those operating outside the regime must also be put right.

A new licence fee should be implemented to fund the regulation of the licence, and the Environment Agency should be allowed to use the funds raised from permits to fund enforcement action against illegal and non-compliant sites. Under the current regime, operators must register with local authorities, whereas the environmental permits are issued by the Environment Agency. At present there is no requirement for the Environment Agency and local authorities to consult each other, so hundreds of sites carry a scrap metal dealer’s registration but no environmental permit, and vice versa. This must end.

[Anna Soubry (Broxtowe) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman and I, being Nottinghamshire MPs, are familiar, like other hon. Members, with this terrible problem, which has blighted churches in my constituency. Does he agree that there is a good argument to be had about who should give out and operate the licences? It could be argued that it is the police, and not necessarily local authorities, who should license scrap metal dealers.

[Mr Allen]

That is a very interesting point to be teased out in a Bill Committee, if the hon. Member for Croydon South is successful in getting his Bill into Committee. It deserves a great deal of attention. Any new licensing scheme should also be flexible locally, so that councils or whoever can adapt the system to the differing circumstances found in different areas.

The Government must focus much more on the role of forensic markings in preventing this crime. Alan Given, until recently the chief executive of Nottinghamshire Police Authority, says that maintaining

“a minimum standard in relation to longevity, retrieval and analysis”

of forensic markings is an extremely useful intervention that the Government can make. Reliable forensic marking can make metal worthless to steal, make trading stolen metal a high-risk activity, and play a key role in ensuring the prosecution of criminals.

The commercial and domestic use of forensic markings is common. Companies such as Network Rail, National Grid, BT Openreach and many others mark their metals with hidden ink. I take this opportunity to congratulate SmartWater on working with the War Memorials Trust to donate a free system to protect every war memorial in the UK by the end of the year.

Last year the city council in Nottingham and our crime and drug partnership started to mark metal street furniture. They have also done outstanding work backing a property marking scheme advertised on the back of buses in the city to ensure that criminals know that metal is being marked. This has even included putting up posters in custody suites.

If the trade does not seize this opportunity for sensible reform, I and no doubt many colleagues will seek to require scrap metal dealers to scan all materials arriving at their premises, but for now any legislation should allow local authorities or others to use the techniques that they consider necessary.

The final key area, as has been mentioned, is the ban on cash payments, which was introduced in Operation Tornado It must go further and include itinerant collectors and vehicle salvagers. That is extremely important.

Parliament is so often seen as irrelevant to ordinary people’s needs and slow to act. Here, on the back of concern that has been given voice by constituency MPs of all parties and an opportunity that has been given by the fluke of the private Member’s Bill ballot and the generosity of the hon. Member for Croydon South, we have a chance to move swiftly. I very much hope that the Minister will grab that chance.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Mr Jones, is it correct that you have arranged with the Minister and the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen) to speak briefly?