Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government who holds responsibility for tackling unlicensed metal recyclers between the different police services and local authorities.

We absolutely recognise the distress and disruption metal theft can cause, not only to businesses, but also local communities.

The latest published statistics for the year ending March 2023 showed the number of metal theft offences recorded by the police in England and Wales was down by 54% compared with the year ending March 2013.

The Government supported the introduction of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 to reverse an upward trend in the level of metal theft through better regulation of the metal recycling sector, making it more difficult to dispose of stolen metal. The 2013 Act requires anyone carrying on business as a scrap metal dealer to be licensed by their local authority. The Act also provides police and licensing authority officers with a power to issue a closure notice if they are satisfied the premises are not licensed but are being used by a scrap metal dealer in the course of business; and to subsequently apply to the magistrates’ court for a closure order.

The Home Office continues to work closely with the National Police Chief Councils (NPCC) through the NPCC Metal Crime Steering Group, which brings together partner agencies to ensure a robust response to metal theft.

The Home Office also provided funding in the financial year 2020-21 to establish the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership. The Partnership ensures the national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft. Membership of the Partnership includes infrastructure companies such as rail, telecoms and utility companies, who work together to monitor trends in metal theft, share intelligence, target offenders and implement crime prevention measures. The Partnership has provided training for over 2000 police officers and other agencies in the responsibilities under the Act and how to enforce it.

Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on the ‘Criminal Justice System’ for England and Wales every quarter. This includes ‘summary offences under Scrap Metal Dealers Act’; The statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-june-2023.