Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the theft of tools from vans.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is working with Combined Industries Theft Solutions (CITS) and the police-led National Business Crime Centre to explore ways to prevent the theft of tools including theft from vans.
We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, taking forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles, which includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to address vulnerability in vehicles.
The Government is tackling acquisitive crime as a priority and is committed to reducing the ability for criminals to profit from crime, making it less attractive for offenders to commit thefts of goods, including tools. We have established a group of expert policing and academic partners who are taking forward work across a number of themes. These include actions to identify where and how stolen goods are sold; examining ways to ensure property is marked, identifiable and traceable; and encouraging due diligence checks by second-hand traders and increased enforcement from police.
We are looking at adding this by SI to the matters covered by Greg Smith's PMB once it has passed.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce car thefts.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle-related thefts.
We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, taking forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles, which includes training of police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to address vulnerability in vehicle.
A network of vehicle crime leads has also been established, covering all forces, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of vehicles stolen in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) London and (c) England in each of the past 12 years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The number of ‘theft of a motor vehicle’ offences recorded by the territorial police forces in London and in England in each year is presented in the table below. Data at the constituency level are not published by the Home Office.
The number of ‘theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle’ and ‘Aggravated vehicle taking’ offences recorded by police forces:
Theft of a motor vehicle offences | England | London |
2010/11 | 100,634 | 27,073 |
2011/12 | 87,635 | 26,346 |
2012/13 | 75,748 | 22,198 |
2013/14 | 71,747 | 20,784 |
2014/15 | 72,257 | 21,931 |
2015/16 | 78,394 | 22,265 |
2016/17 | 93,121 | 28,008 |
2017/18 | 107,504 | 31,565 |
2018/19 | 115,199 | 31,705 |
2019/20 | 114,395 | 31,235 |
2020/21 | 90,476 | 25,801 |
2021/22 | 109,179 | 29,066 |
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Source: Home Office police recorded crime open data tables
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of (a) car and (b) catalytic converter thefts in England.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government works closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for vehicle crime, the police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), taking forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. Through the NVCWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
The most recent meeting of the NVCWG took place on 23 June 2022.
The Government is also working closely with the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP) to tackle theft of catalytic converters. The Home Office provided seed corn funding in 2021 to set-up the NICRP, the work of which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, providing training, sharing intelligence to target offenders, and implementing crime prevention measures.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the National Vehicle Crime Working Group last met.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government works closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for vehicle crime, the police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), taking forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. Through the NVCWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
The most recent meeting of the NVCWG took place on 23 June 2022.
The Government is also working closely with the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP) to tackle theft of catalytic converters. The Home Office provided seed corn funding in 2021 to set-up the NICRP, the work of which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, providing training, sharing intelligence to target offenders, and implementing crime prevention measures.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of car thefts in England in the last three years.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government works closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for vehicle crime, the police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), taking forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. Through the NVCWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
The most recent meeting of the NVCWG took place on 23 June 2022.
The Government is also working closely with the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP) to tackle theft of catalytic converters. The Home Office provided seed corn funding in 2021 to set-up the NICRP, the work of which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, providing training, sharing intelligence to target offenders, and implementing crime prevention measures.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to help reduce catalytic converter theft.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to tackle theft of catalytic converters. All police forces are represented on the Working Group, and a network of vehicle crime specialists from every force in England and Wales shares information about emerging trends and how to tackle regional issues.
The Home Office funded the set-up of the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership, which is ensuring the national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal and other theft. The partnership shares intelligence to target offenders, and implements crime prevention measures. The British Transport Police, through the NICRP, has conducted three national weeks of actions resulting in 92 arrests, over 2,000 site visits, over 1,000 stolen catalytic converters recovered, and the catalytic converters of over 3,000 vehicles forensically marked. This has helped to promote awareness, with over 1,000 officers trained in enforcement powers to deal with scrap metal dealers, and has seen a significant reduction in catalytic converter thefts.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce (a) theft of a vehicle, (b) theft from a vehicle, (c) trespass on public or private land with a vehicle, (d) alteration of a vehicle with the intent to cause anti-social behaviour and (e) other crimes and anti-social behaviours involving vehicles.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to tackle theft of, and from, vehicles, including catalytic converters. The Metropolitan Police Service is represented on the Working Group, and a network of vehicle crime specialists from every force in England and Wales shares information about emerging trends and how to tackle regional issues.
The Home Office funded the set-up of the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership, which is ensuring the national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal and other theft. The partnership shares intelligence to target offenders, and implements crime prevention measures. The British Transport Police, through the NICRP, has conducted three national weeks of actions resulting in 92 arrests, over 2,000 site visits, over 1,000 stolen catalytic converters recovered, and the catalytic converters of over 3,000 vehicles forensically marked. This has helped to promote awareness, with over 1,000 officers trained in enforcement powers to deal with scrap metal dealers, and has seen a significant reduction in catalytic converter thefts. The Metropolitan Police Service have also co-ordinated their own operations to tackle these thefts.
The Government is working with partner agencies to ensure effective use of powers in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, to tackle all forms of anti-social behaviour including involving vehicles. The statutory guidance was updated last year to ensure a victim-centered approach to tackling ASB. ASB is one of the primary crime and issue types being targeted in the fourth round of the Safer Streets Fund.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce catalytic converter thefts in (a) Carshalton and Wallington, (b) London and (c) the rest of the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to tackle theft of, and from, vehicles, including catalytic converters. The Metropolitan Police Service is represented on the Working Group, and a network of vehicle crime specialists from every force in England and Wales shares information about emerging trends and how to tackle regional issues.
The Home Office funded the set-up of the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership, which is ensuring the national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal and other theft. The partnership shares intelligence to target offenders, and implements crime prevention measures. The British Transport Police, through the NICRP, has conducted three national weeks of actions resulting in 92 arrests, over 2,000 site visits, over 1,000 stolen catalytic converters recovered, and the catalytic converters of over 3,000 vehicles forensically marked. This has helped to promote awareness, with over 1,000 officers trained in enforcement powers to deal with scrap metal dealers, and has seen a significant reduction in catalytic converter thefts. The Metropolitan Police Service have also co-ordinated their own operations to tackle these thefts.
The Government is working with partner agencies to ensure effective use of powers in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, to tackle all forms of anti-social behaviour including involving vehicles. The statutory guidance was updated last year to ensure a victim-centered approach to tackling ASB. ASB is one of the primary crime and issue types being targeted in the fourth round of the Safer Streets Fund.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with the Metropolitan Police on a strategy to tackle the rising level of catalytic converter theft.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to tackle theft of catalytic converters. The Metropolitan Police Service is represented on the Working Group, and a network of vehicle crime specialists from every force in England and Wales shares information about emerging trends and how to tackle regional issues.
The Government funded the set-up of the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP), which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, including the theft of catalytic converters. The partnership shares intelligence to target offenders, and implements crime prevention measures. The British Transport Police, through the NICRP, has conducted three national weeks of actions resulting in 92 arrests, over 2,000 site visits, over 1,000 stolen catalytic converters recovered, and the catalytic converters of over 3,000 vehicles forensically marked. This has helped to promote awareness, with over 1,000 officers trained in enforcement powers to deal with scrap metal dealers, and has seen a significant reduction in catalytic converter thefts. The Metropolitan Police Service have also co-ordinated their own operations to tackle these thefts.