Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with car manufacturers on reducing the risk of stolen catalytic converters through design and technology.

We are working with the police and the automotive industry, to ensure the strongest response possible to all types of vehicle crime.

The Home Office meets regularly with the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and with industry to discuss how government can help tackle the serious problem of vehicle crime. We also support the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group which focusses on prevention and deterrence of theft of, and from, vehicles. This includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles including the theft of catalytic converters.

Additionally in the Crime and Policing Bill we are banning the electronic devices used to steal vehicles, providing a valuable tool to prevent the theft of vehicles.

The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 was introduced to reverse an upward trend in the level of metal theft through better regulation of the metal recycling sector, making it more difficult to dispose of stolen metal including catalytic converters.