Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce instances of theft of farm equipment and machinery.

This Government is committed to driving down rural crime including theft of farm equipment and machinery.

To help prevent the theft of agricultural machinery, the Government has introduced the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act which will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to all new All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes.

The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 gained Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The Home Office issued a Call for Evidence to inform the necessary secondary legislation regulations, which closed on 13 July and responses are currently being considered.

There are currently no plans to include all agricultural vehicles. However, the provisions could be extended in the future, through secondary legislation, where evidence shows this is necessary.

I also welcome the recent commitment by chief constables across England and Wales, to pursue any available evidence where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. This relates to all crimes, no matter where they are committed.