Scrap Metal Dealers Bill

Debate between Richard Ottaway and Karen Bradley

Friday 13th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Richard Ottaway]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. In fact, I am reliably informed that 12 people were killed last year in the process of stealing electrified cables.

We are talking not about petty theft but about an industry, with criminals holding our society to ransom. Why? It is because they see metal theft as a soft target. The police tell us that metal theft is emerging as a new acquisitive crime. It is a low-risk enterprise, with plenty of vulnerable targets to plunder. Around 80% of people linked to cable theft live within six miles of the crime location. Clearly, they have no fear of being caught. The surge is driven partly by the low risk of detection. The lack of an effective framework to combat metal theft has a lot to answer for. We need new legislation to disrupt and then shut down the trade in stolen metal.

[Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on this important Bill. Does he agree that in rural constituencies such as Staffordshire Moorlands, police resources are being diverted to deal with metal theft in isolated areas, such as in pubs that are being renovated, as we have seen in my constituency? The police are being distracted from what they should be doing and are instead having to monitor isolated rural areas for metal thieves.

[Richard Ottaway]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. Indeed, I will come to the question of enforcement a bit later.