Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Home Office regarding the collection of detailed data on freight crime and its hotspots.

The Department for Transport holds regular discussions with the Home Office regarding freight crime and where it occurs.

Most recently, on 25 February, the Minister for Policing and Crime and I hosted a freight roundtable with representatives from the haulage sector, trade bodies and police in attendance. We heard directly from the sector on their concerns relating to freight crime.

The Home Office have engaged with police forces on how to make freight crime more visible within the police recorded crime statistics. A freight crime recording flag has been developed and is currently being piloted in two police forces. The results of the pilot will be assessed soon, any changes necessary will be made and, if successful, the flag will be rolled out across all forces in due course for mandatory collection.