Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the financial cost of heritage crime in each of the last 10 years.

This Government recognises the distress and disruption that heritage theft and vandalism can cause to local communities. We have supported the work of Historic England which leads on a number of initiatives to tackle heritage crime, particularly theft from church roofs and other buildings primarily in rural locations.

We all have a part to play in preventing heritage crime. For example, the Heritage Watch scheme, a project brought together by Historic England and Country Eye Ltd encourages communities and other partners to get involved in protecting heritage buildings, by knowing how to spot the signs a crime has taken place and making it easier for local residents to report these crimes.

There is no separate recording code to disaggregate ‘heritage crime’ from the broader range of offences involved, such as theft, vandalism, arson and anti-social behaviour. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other agencies with a range of powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, including damage to heritage sites caused by vandalism or graffiti.