Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent the export of stolen vehicles by organised criminal groups.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police – taking a national approach – to ensure our response is as strong as it can be, including working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime.

This Government is committed to working domestically, applying the full range of disruption tactics, and with partners internationally to disrupt organised crime groups upstream.

We provided £250,000 funding in the financial year 2024-25 to help support enforcement at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad. This included additional staff and specialist equipment.

Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced measures to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them.

Via the recently established National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles; this includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.