Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the trends in the level of cars being stolen by people under 18.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime.
The latest estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows there were 726,000 incidents of vehicle-related theft in the year ending September 2023. This represents a 39% fall, when compared with the year ending March 2010, when there was an estimated 1,198,000 such incidents.
The Government is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce vehicle crime nationally. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. A network of vehicle crime leads has been established in every police force in England and Wales, ensuring forces share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and are better able to tackle regional issues.
We are legislating through the Criminal Justice Bill to create two new offences where a person possesses, makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply electronic devices where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will be used in vehicle theft. The legislation will make it easier for police to prosecute criminals making and supplying these devices, as well as vehicle thieves.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales publishes annual estimates on the proportion of stolen vehicles returned to owners which can be found within the ‘Nature of crime: Vehicle related thefts’. The latest available figures from the 2019/20 CSEW, estimated that in 28% of thefts the vehicle was returned to its owner, 34% in the 2018/19 survey and 40% in the 2017/18 survey.
No assessment has been made of the number of vehicles stolen by under 18s and there are currently no plans to publish the minutes of meeting on car theft since November 2023.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of policing of car theft.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime.
The latest estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows there were 726,000 incidents of vehicle-related theft in the year ending September 2023. This represents a 39% fall, when compared with the year ending March 2010, when there was an estimated 1,198,000 such incidents.
The Government is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce vehicle crime nationally. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. A network of vehicle crime leads has been established in every police force in England and Wales, ensuring forces share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and are better able to tackle regional issues.
We are legislating through the Criminal Justice Bill to create two new offences where a person possesses, makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply electronic devices where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will be used in vehicle theft. The legislation will make it easier for police to prosecute criminals making and supplying these devices, as well as vehicle thieves.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales publishes annual estimates on the proportion of stolen vehicles returned to owners which can be found within the ‘Nature of crime: Vehicle related thefts’. The latest available figures from the 2019/20 CSEW, estimated that in 28% of thefts the vehicle was returned to its owner, 34% in the 2018/19 survey and 40% in the 2017/18 survey.
No assessment has been made of the number of vehicles stolen by under 18s and there are currently no plans to publish the minutes of meeting on car theft since November 2023.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce car theft.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime.
The latest estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows there were 726,000 incidents of vehicle-related theft in the year ending September 2023. This represents a 39% fall, when compared with the year ending March 2010, when there was an estimated 1,198,000 such incidents.
The Government is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce vehicle crime nationally. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. A network of vehicle crime leads has been established in every police force in England and Wales, ensuring forces share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and are better able to tackle regional issues.
We are legislating through the Criminal Justice Bill to create two new offences where a person possesses, makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply electronic devices where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will be used in vehicle theft. The legislation will make it easier for police to prosecute criminals making and supplying these devices, as well as vehicle thieves.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales publishes annual estimates on the proportion of stolen vehicles returned to owners which can be found within the ‘Nature of crime: Vehicle related thefts’. The latest available figures from the 2019/20 CSEW, estimated that in 28% of thefts the vehicle was returned to its owner, 34% in the 2018/19 survey and 40% in the 2017/18 survey.
No assessment has been made of the number of vehicles stolen by under 18s and there are currently no plans to publish the minutes of meeting on car theft since November 2023.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to help reduce automobile theft in (a) the UK and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is committed to tackling theft of and from vehicles. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that neighbourhood crime is down 48% in the year ending September 2023 when compared to the year ending March 2010.
We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce vehicle crime nationally. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. The Metropolitan Police Service is represented on the Working Group.
A network of vehicle crime leads has been established in every police force in England and Wales, ensuring forces share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and are better able to tackle regional issues.
We are legislating through the Criminal Justice Bill to create two new offences where a person possesses, makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply electronic devices where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will be used in vehicle theft. The legislation will make it easier for police to prosecute criminals making and supplying these devices, as well as vehicle thieves.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held recent discussions with vehicle manufacturers on the adequacy of onboard security measures to prevent vehicle thefts.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government is committed to reducing vehicle crime and new vehicles have a range of features fitted on a mandatory basis to deter theft of and from vehicles. In addition, the Criminal Justice Bill will create offences aimed at reducing vehicle crime.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support the West Midlands Police to prevent car theft in Birmingham.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime.
The Criminal Justice Bill, introduced to Parliament on 14 November, proposes new offences to possess, import, make, adapt, supply or offer to supply an electronic device for use in vehicle theft. This proposed new legislation will make it easier for police to prevent and tackle the theft of vehicles.
The Home Office is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce vehicle crime nationally. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. West Midlands Police is represented on the Working Group.
A network of vehicle crime leads has been established in every police force in England and Wales, ensuring forces share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and are better able to tackle regional issues.
The Government is pleased to be able to say that through our successful uplift programme, we recruited over 20,000 additional officers and have a record number of officers across forces in England and Wales. 1966 officers have been allocated to West Midlands Police.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reported vehicle thefts there were in (a) the London Borough of Hounslow and (b) London in the last four years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of vehicle theft offences reported to and recorded by the police in England and Wales, on a quarterly basis. These are available at the Police Force Area and the Community Safety Partnership Area levels, and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables
The Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and its latest estimates shows that the number of incidences of theft of vehicles has fallen by 23% since the year ending March 2010, to 86,000 incidences. The sample size of the CSEW is not large enough to yield estimates at borough or local authority level.
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime. We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. Through the NVCWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the trend in the number of car thefts in (a) the London Borough of Hounslow and (b) outer London boroughs.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime and catalytic converter theft.
We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. Through the NVWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
The Metropolitan Police Service is represented on the Working Group and the Home Office regularly engages with the NCA on crime related to criminal gangs.
The most recent meeting of the NVCWG took place on 4th May 2023.
The Government is also working closely with the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP) to tackle theft of catalytic converters. The Home Office provided funding in 2021 to set-up the NICRP, the work of which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, providing training, sharing intelligence to target offenders, and implementing crime prevention measures.
Crime Survey data on vehicle theft since 2010 being down 42%. The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of car thefts recorded by the police in England and Wales, including data by London Boroughs.
Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Table 1 Volume of Police recorded offences for ‘Theft of a motor vehicle’, Outer London Boroughs
Area | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | Apr to Dec 22 |
Hounslow | 876 | 792 | 744 | 562 |
Outer London Boroughs | 19,305 | 16,154 | 17,978 | 15,472 |
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of car thefts in London; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime and catalytic converter theft.
We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. Through the NVWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
The Metropolitan Police Service is represented on the Working Group and the Home Office regularly engages with the NCA on crime related to criminal gangs.
The most recent meeting of the NVCWG took place on 4th May 2023.
The Government is also working closely with the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP) to tackle theft of catalytic converters. The Home Office provided funding in 2021 to set-up the NICRP, the work of which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, providing training, sharing intelligence to target offenders, and implementing crime prevention measures.
Crime Survey data on vehicle theft since 2010 being down 42%. The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of car thefts recorded by the police in England and Wales, including data by London Boroughs.
Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Table 1 Volume of Police recorded offences for ‘Theft of a motor vehicle’, Outer London Boroughs
Area | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | Apr to Dec 22 |
Hounslow | 876 | 792 | 744 | 562 |
Outer London Boroughs | 19,305 | 16,154 | 17,978 | 15,472 |
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with officials at the National Crime Agency on the theft of cars by criminal gangs.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime and catalytic converter theft.
We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. Through the NVWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
The Metropolitan Police Service is represented on the Working Group and the Home Office regularly engages with the NCA on crime related to criminal gangs.
The most recent meeting of the NVCWG took place on 4th May 2023.
The Government is also working closely with the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP) to tackle theft of catalytic converters. The Home Office provided funding in 2021 to set-up the NICRP, the work of which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, providing training, sharing intelligence to target offenders, and implementing crime prevention measures.
Crime Survey data on vehicle theft since 2010 being down 42%. The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of car thefts recorded by the police in England and Wales, including data by London Boroughs.
Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Table 1 Volume of Police recorded offences for ‘Theft of a motor vehicle’, Outer London Boroughs
Area | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | Apr to Dec 22 |
Hounslow | 876 | 792 | 744 | 562 |
Outer London Boroughs | 19,305 | 16,154 | 17,978 | 15,472 |