Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential challenges for police in identifying a greater proportion of perpetrators of mobile phone and laptop thefts.

he Home Office recognises the challenges involved in identifying and bringing to justice those responsible for mobile phone and laptop theft. These offences are often linked to organised criminality, with stolen devices frequently moved, resold or exported quickly, making offenders harder to identify and disrupt. Tackling street crime, including mobile phone and laptop theft, remains a priority, and police forces across the country have taken determined action against the groups responsible. We are supporting policing to maintain this progress and sustain operational successes.

Technical solutions are critical because, if a stolen device cannot be reused or resold, it loses its value to criminals, removing the incentive for organised criminal groups and others to target them. The Met police are working with technology companies to explore measures that reduce the resale value of stolen phones and their component parts and enable police to identify stolen devices more quickly. In recent months, companies including Apple and Google have introduced enhanced theft protections and the Met police and Apple have committed to publishing quarterly data on device reconnections to help assess their effectiveness.

There are encouraging signs that industry action and strengthened law enforcement efforts are having an impact. Police recorded theft from the person offences in England and Wales, including snatch thefts and pickpocketing of mobile phones and laptops, fell by 20% in 2025/26, from 151,063 offences in 2024/25 to 121,161 offences in 2025/26. This follows previous increases in recorded offences and suggests that the combined efforts of policing and partners are beginning to deliver results.

We welcome this progress, but the key test will be whether phone theft continues to fall. We are monitoring progress closely and will take further action if needed.