Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral evidence to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee on 3 June 2025, HC 523, whether her Department plans to pilot enhanced device‑blocking and cross‑platform verification tools with the Metropolitan Police and other police forces.

Mobile phone theft causes significant distress to victims and fuels wider criminality, and the Government is determined to reduce it. We recognise the important role that technical solutions, such as options aimed at preventing stolen devices from accessing cloud services, can play in reducing the market value of a stolen device.

The Metropolitan Police Service is currently leading collaboration with technology partners, including mobile operating system providers, to explore the quickest and most effective ways of achieving this. The Home Office is supporting this important collaboration between law enforcement and technology partners.