Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department takes to help protect legal owners against the sale of stolen goods (a) at auction houses and (b) online.

The Government recognises the significant impact invasive crimes such as theft can have on individuals and the wider community. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows neighbourhood crime is down 51% compared to findings from the year ending March 2010.

The Home Office established the Stolen Goods Working Group in January 2021, collaborating with policing and academic leads to deliver a programme of work that will make it harder for criminals to profit financially from acquisitive crime.

Through this group the Government are working closely with a group of expert policing and academic partners who are taking forward work across a number of themes. These include actions to identify where and how stolen goods are commonly sold; examining ways to ensure property is marked, identifiable and traceable; exploring ways to share best practice between forces; and examining what more can be done to tackle the disposal markets for stolen goods and reduce the profit from acquisitive crime.

There are a number of police-led schemes to prevent the sale of stolen goods, including We Don’t Buy Crime and the Safe Seller scheme. Under these schemes, sellers of second-hand goods commit to undertake checks before buying and offering goods for sale.

Owners are encouraged to mark and register property, this helps to prove ownership of an item and return it to the rightful owner if stolen property is recovered. There are a number of commercially run property marking databases where members of the public can register their items. Some of these specialise in certain types of items such as bicycles or antiques. Police Crime Prevention Initiatives have developed practical crime prevention advice to better understand how to better safeguard property. Information can be found here https://www.securedbydesign.com/guidance/crime-prevention-advice/fuel-theft.

The Criminal Justice Bill, currently making its passage through Parliament, includes a new power for the police to enter premises to search for and seize specific stolen items. This power will allow swift seizure of stolen property and better gathering of evidence to support investigation and arrest, which police indicate is crucial for acquisitive crime offences.

Online sale sites have policies in place to prevent the sale of illegal items and items that encourage illegal activity, along with guidance for the public on how to avoid purchasing stolen goods. The Online Safety Act 2023 will place a new responsibility on tech companies to prevent users encountering illegal content, which includes advertisements for stolen goods.

There are currently no plans to introduce a database of stolen goods which can be updated by law enforcement or bring forward legislative proposals to strengthen the checks auction houses must carry out to prevent the sale of stolen goods.