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329WH<br />
Metal Theft<br />
1 DECEMBER 2010<br />
Metal Theft<br />
330WH<br />
I hope that the Government will consider its conclusions<br />
carefully and endorse what it has to say as a way<br />
forward.<br />
4.48 pm<br />
The <strong>Parliament</strong>ary Under-Secretary of State for the<br />
Home Department (James Brokenshire): May I thank<br />
you, Mr Leigh, for ensuring that this debate started<br />
promptly despite all of this afternoon’s Divisions? May<br />
I also congratulate the hon. Member for West Bromwich<br />
East (Mr Watson) on securing this Adjournment debate<br />
about the important subject of preventing and tackling<br />
metal theft, and on the measured and detailed way in<br />
which he has rightly highlighted the issues? I am sure<br />
that the House will appreciate the information that the<br />
hon. Gentleman has advanced. I assure him that I<br />
regard the issue as serious. I take a personal interest in it<br />
because of my own experiences as a constituency MP. I<br />
know the impact that metal thefts can have.<br />
May I also thank the Second Church Estates<br />
Commissioner, my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury<br />
(Tony Baldry), for his speech on churches and the<br />
challenges facing the Church community? I hope that I<br />
will be able to comment on that in the time remaining.<br />
Metal theft is an issue about which I am concerned,<br />
and I give the assurance that the Government take it<br />
seriously. The need to reduce this crime is important,<br />
and I thank hon. Members for raising the issue. Let me<br />
be clear: we recognise the serious consequences of metal<br />
theft. It is not a victimless crime. We have seen the<br />
significant disruption that metal theft causes to critical<br />
national infrastructure throughout the <strong>United</strong> <strong>Kingdom</strong>.<br />
That includes power and transport networks, with<br />
the stealing of live copper cable, which has resulted in<br />
death and serious injury for people involved. In addition,<br />
as hon. Members highlighted, a number of historic<br />
buildings, including churches, are being targeted for<br />
their lead roofs and damaged. Many other examples<br />
were given, but the time available means that I must try<br />
to deal with the relevant points that have been highlighted<br />
this afternoon.<br />
I recognise that the constituency of the hon. Member<br />
for West Bromwich East has a specific issue. I was<br />
recently in Sandwell, talking to the community safety<br />
partnership and the police. They underlined to me the<br />
importance that they place on dealing with and responding<br />
to metal theft. I congratulate them on the work that<br />
they are doing in dealing with the problem.<br />
The police, other law enforcement agencies and industry<br />
are making efforts to tackle metal theft, providing a<br />
strong foundation on which to build a future partnership<br />
approach. T<strong>here</strong> are excellent examples of effective<br />
multi-agency partnerships that have come together in<br />
affected areas to tackle their local metal theft problem. I<br />
am keen to ensure that the practical impact of that<br />
work, which shows how much difference can be made<br />
by motivated and committed partnerships that take the<br />
problem seriously, is shared more widely. We need to<br />
build on it. Many scrap metal dealers are doing excellent<br />
work in supporting law enforcement activity and reporting<br />
suspicious behaviour. We need to support their efforts,<br />
while bearing down on those who operate outside the<br />
law.<br />
At national level, the Association of Chief Police<br />
Officers metal theft working group, chaired by Deputy<br />
Chief Constable Paul Crowther, provides leadership to<br />
police forces and a forum in which industry and the<br />
police can share information and good practice, which<br />
is extremely valuable work. I welcome the recent distribution<br />
of the ACPO tactical guidance to police forces. That<br />
provides, in clear detail, examples of effective practice<br />
in tackling metal theft.<br />
The nature of metal theft means that joint working is<br />
just as important at national level as at local level. That<br />
is why the recent work by the telecommunications and<br />
utilities industries, in working on joint enforcement<br />
operations with local police forces, is so important.<br />
I particularly welcome the efforts of industry in designing<br />
out this crime. For example, BT has been working to<br />
improve the protection of metal assets through improved<br />
security at storage sites. T<strong>here</strong> are other examples of<br />
industry partners reviewing and tightening up their<br />
planned disposal of waste metal through the use of<br />
approved contractors and scrap metal dealers.<br />
On the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964, I am grateful<br />
to the hon. Gentleman for bringing to the House’s<br />
attention the issue regarding the effectiveness of the<br />
existing legislation. The Act contains a number of<br />
requirements relating to the regulation of the scrap<br />
metal dealer industry—namely, the requirement for each<br />
dealer to register with their local authority; the fact that<br />
all seller details are to be recorded; and the fact that<br />
metal cannot be accepted for sale from the under-16s.<br />
We have seen excellent examples in Avon and Somerset<br />
and elsew<strong>here</strong> of how the existing legislation can be<br />
used.<br />
I note and welcome the British Metals Recycling<br />
Association code of practice, which it has recently<br />
issued to its members and to which the hon. Gentleman<br />
referred. However, although we welcome such attempts<br />
at self-regulation, we are also seeking to join up the<br />
existing regulatory framework better by contributing to<br />
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs<br />
review of waste policies—due to report in the summer<br />
of next year—to see what changes, if any, need to be<br />
made to legislation in this area.<br />
Environmental and waste regulations cover the operation<br />
of the scrap metal dealer industry, as well as the<br />
transportation and storage of waste materials. Those<br />
regulations are mostly enforced by the Environment<br />
Agency. T<strong>here</strong>fore it is vital that the police and the<br />
Environment Agency continue to work together to ensure<br />
that all the existing legislation is used effectively.<br />
The hon. Gentleman will no doubt appreciate that<br />
the lead on funding for the British Transport police is<br />
the Department for Transport, rather than the Home<br />
Office. I know that Westminster Hall debates are not<br />
the arena in which to make party political points about<br />
the economic situation, but I note what the hon. Gentleman<br />
said and I am sure that colleagues at the Department<br />
for Transport will note it when they refer to the report<br />
of the debate.<br />
As the Minister responsible for crime prevention, I<br />
am determined to develop a joint plan of working with<br />
law enforcement agencies, Departments and industry to<br />
tackle metal theft at every stage, from theft to disposal.<br />
Because joint working is so important, I want the plan<br />
to be jointly owned by the Home Office and the Association<br />
of Chief Police Officers multi-agency metal theft working<br />
group. We also need to consider the intelligence arena.<br />
We are looking at how regional intelligence units can