Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle changes in the level of bicycle thefts.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales for year ending March 2023 shows that the level of bicycle theft offences has reduced by 51% since March 2010.

The Home Office works closely with the British Transport Police (BTP), the national lead for cycle theft, to tackle the theft of bicycles. BTP have launched the ‘double lock it’ campaign with police forces and organisations, providing advice to owners to help better protect their bicycles. Further information on the campaign and bicycle locks can be found here: https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/campaigns/double-lock-it/.

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Cycling and Walking Plan for England, Gear Change, aims to boost cycling and walking and sets out a number of initiatives to combat cycle theft, including encouraging retailers to number the bicycles they sell and offer customers the opportunity to register their bicycle on a database at the point of sale. The Plan is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycling-and-walking-plan-for-england.

The BTP-led National Cycle Crime Group, working with DfT, have set up Cycle Crime Reduction Partnerships across the country to coordinate regional enforcement activity to disrupt organised cycle theft.

The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on the number of bicycle theft offences reported to and recorded by the police in England and Wales and their investigative outcomes, including charges, on a quarterly basis.

These can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables