Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of power cable thefts in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) England in each of the last three years.

While there is no official estimate of the cost to the public purse of cable thefts in England and Wales, Network Rail believe it costs millions of pounds each year with the total cost to the economy taking into account the impact of freight delays to power stations and supermarkets, and on passengers who miss appointments or have their day ruined even higher.

This Government recognises the distress and disruption that such theft can cause to critical infrastructure.

The Government will continue to support the extensive work undertaken by the British Transport Police, in partnership with organisations such as Network Rail, to further improve the response to metal theft by disrupting those involved in this type of crime.