Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of postbox theft; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle it.

In the year ending December 2024, there were 7,998 ‘Theft of mail’ offences recorded by the police across England and Wales, a 24% increase compared with the previous year.

The Government recognises the profound impact theft can have on individuals and wider communities. Key to tackling all types of theft is having more police on the streets. That is why we are putting 13,000 additional police officers and personnel into neighbourhood policing roles. This will ensure that everyone has a named, contactable officer, responsive to local problems.

The 2025-26 final Police Funding Settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared with the 2024-25 settlement and includes an additional £200 million to kickstart the first phase of the additional neighbourhood policing roles.