Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has assessed the effectiveness of agricultural machinery identification and marking schemes, including CESAR, in reducing theft and increasing recovery rates; and whether she plans to bring forward proposals to expand participation in such schemes.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) in delivering their Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy for 2025–28. This strategy provides a framework through which policing and its partners can work together to tackle the crimes that predominantly affect rural communities, including organised criminality affecting farms and agricultural businesses.

Rural crime is not currently recorded as a distinct category within police recorded crime, so it is not possible to produce a single, centrally verified measure of its scale. Instead, offences affecting rural communities - such as theft, criminal damage and wildlife crime - are recorded within existing national categories. Our focus is therefore on improving understanding and response through better use of existing data, and by strengthening national coordination via the Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy and specialist units.

To support the policing response, the Home Office is providing over £800,000 in 2026/27 to the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit.

These specialist capabilities provide intelligence, analysis, coordination and operational support to forces across the UK, helping to identify, disrupt and pursue offenders operating across force boundaries. We are committed to improving victims’ experiences by funding vital support services, ensuring access to appropriate assistance, and working with partners across the criminal justice system to deliver the rights set out in the Victims’ Code.

The Government is also committed to working closely with devolved governments, ministers and relevant agencies across the UK. This joined up approach between government and policing will help ensure the weight of government is put behind tackling rural crimes such as the theft of high value farm equipment and livestock.

The CESAR security and registration scheme is already in place and is used by the construction and agricultural industry with over 650,000 machines now protected and registered using this scheme. We are also seeking to implement measures under the Equipment Theft Act, which will make it harder to steal All-Terrain Vehicles and GPS units used in an agricultural setting and easier for the police to identify the owners when such items are recovered.