Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her polices of trends in levels of theft of Royal Mail post boxes; and whether she has had recent discussions with Royal Mail on those trends.

In the year ending June 2024, there were 6,290 ‘Theft of mail’ offences recorded by the police across England and Wales, a 26% decrease compared with the previous year.

Theft, including the theft of post boxes is a serious issue. This Government recognises the distress and disruption that theft and vandalism can cause, not only to businesses, but also to local communities and critical infrastructure.

That is why we are putting 13,000 additional police officers and personnel into neighbourhood policing roles. This will ensure that everyone has a named, contactable officer, responsive to local problems including the theft of Royal Mail post boxes.

The 2025-26 final Police Funding Settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared with the 2024-25 settlement and includes an additional £200 million to kickstart the first phase of the additional neighbourhood policing roles.