Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police officers in rural areas have access to training on tackling rural crime.

The Government recognises there can be particular challenges in responding to rural crime. The Government welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) in September 2022.

In June 2023 the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs launched the Unleashing Rural Opportunity, setting out four broad priorities that are key to rural communities being able to thrive. As part of this, the Home Office has provided £200,000 to help establish the National Rural Crime Unit. The NRCU supports forces nationally in their responses to rural crime, such as the theft of farming or construction machinery, livestock theft, rural fly tipping, rural fuel theft and equine crime. In collaboration with the NRCU, the Combined Industry Thefts Solution has provided training to nearly 600 police officers, covering skills in how to identify and examine stolen agricultural and construction machinery, and knowledge about the methods of theft.

The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which gained Royal Assent on 20 July. The Act will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to new agricultural equipment such as All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes, to help prevent theft of this equipment and identify the owners of stolen equipment when it is recovered.

Operational decisions such as allocation of vehicles are matter for individual police chiefs and their force.