Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle phone theft in Surrey Heath constituency.

Mobile phone theft causes significant distress to victims and fuels wider criminality, and the Government is determined to reduce it.

Our aim is to disrupt, design-out and disincentivise mobile phone theft. We are working closely with law enforcement partners, the tech companies and other industry representatives to make swift progress to deliver practical and effective measures to crack down on this criminality and break the business model of mobile phone thieves.

This includes relevant partners playing their part to disrupt the resale of stolen phones, explore technological solutions to make devices harder to register or resell, and helping the public protect themselves and their devices. In addition, the Government is giving the police the power to enter premises to search for and seize stolen items which have been electronically tracked to the premises without requiring a warrant from a court, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively.

The Government will deliver real results on crime by reducing opportunities for theft and ensuring offenders are caught and that victims see swift and effective action.