Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to set up a serial number registration scheme to tackle the theft of catalytic converters from cars.

The Government recognises the negative impact this crime has on industry and the public, causing distress and disruption to victims. We continue to work closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, established by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime and overseen by the Government’s Crime and Justice Taskforce, to understand what more can be done to tackle the theft of catalytic converters.

The Government is committed to reducing both the opportunity for these crimes to occur and the ability to profit from acquisitive crime. We are working with the police to identify where and how stolen goods are sold and are examining ways to ensure property is identifiable and traceable.

We are committed to providing funding to set up the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership, ensuring national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft. Through this, the partnership has already started sharing intelligence and providing training to police forces, and the partnership will also enable intelligence sharing between police and industry partners such as transport, power, and telecommunications, to target offenders and implement crime prevention measures.