Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of arrangements for police forces to combine intelligence from (a) police records, (b) automatic number plate recognition systems and (c) publicly available information to identify and disrupt persistent vehicle-related offending.

The Government recognises the serious impacts that vehicle theft and dangerous driving can have on businesses, communities and individuals and is determined to ensure that crimes such as these receive the response they deserve.

Police Reform will support policing and provide our communities with more consistent services and policing which responds to local needs.  At the local level, new Local Policing Units (LPUs) will work with communities to focus on the issues that matter most to them, such as responding to emergencies, preventing and investigating local crime – such as vehicle theft and dangerous driving – and supporting safer neighbourhoods. In addition, the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee commits to delivering 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of the Parliament. 3,814 additional police officers and PCSOs were delivered into neighbourhood roles by Mach 2026, creating more capacity for local patrols and a stronger presence in communities.

Vehicle theft is often organised, mobile and cross border in nature. At the national level, Police Reform will address cross-border threats such as these by establishing a more capable National Police Service (NPS) that will tackle national threats and deliver national capabilities. The NPS will bring together four core functions: strategic leadership, standard setting, support and enabling services for police forces in England and Wales and the operational response to serious and organised crime, like serious organised vehicle crime, and threats to national security. It will bring together the National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing and regional organised crime capabilities.

Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales indicates that the most common method of entry in the case of vehicle theft involved use of electronic devices to manipulate the signal from a remote locking device. The Policing and Crime Act provides the police and courts with stronger powers to target those who use, manufacture or supply these tools, allowing for a maximum penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.

In January 2026, the Government published a consultation on motoring offences and enforcement, including whether existing penalties and enforcement powers remain effective, proportionate and sufficiently capable of deterring repeat or dangerous behaviour. Responses to the consultation are currently being analysed, and the Government will publish its response in due course.

Information on stolen vehicles is already shared across law enforcement and with relevant partners to support the prevention, detection and investigation of vehicle crime. Opal, the police national intelligence unit focusing on serious organised acquisitive crime has responsibility for identifying and developing intelligence relating to organised vehicle crime. It works with law enforcement officers, partners and industry (both nationally and internationally) in delivering this remit. In addition, the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership headed by the National Police Chief Council’s Lead for Vehicle Crime, ACC Sarah Grahame, brings together law enforcement, industry and government partners. It is working to enhance information sharing and analysis, build networks to target offenders and coordinate activity to reduce vehicle crime and associated harm.