Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implication for burglary prevention of the selling by Amazon of lock picking kits.

The Home Office has not undertaken such an assessment. We are aware that equipment which may have a number of legitimate uses can be bought online which can potentially be misused by criminals to commit crimes such as burglary. We are clear that, where such crimes take place and are reported to the police, they should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, the perpetrators taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.