Minister outlines plans to beat rural crime

PROPOSALS to combat rural crime and equipment theft have cleared their first Commons hurdle.

Home Office minister Chris Philp confirmed the Government would support the private member’s bill tabled by Conservative MP Greg Smith, which seeks to tackle the theft and re-sale of equipment and tools used by tradespeople and agricultural businesses.

The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill was given an unopposed second reading by MPs and will now undergo further scrutiny in Parliament.

Explaining how the proposed legislation would work, the MP for Buckingham told the Commons: “It mandates the fitting of forensic markings at source, which feeds into a national database that is accessible to all police forces across the country, making the quads, the ATVs, the side-bysides, that are fitted with the forensic marking... making those bits of equipment almost as unique as our own DNA, making them entirely traceable.

“This will streamline the ability for each force involved to work with the same resources simultaneously, massively increasing the opportunity to apprehend the suspect, identify and return the stolen machine to its owner.”

He said the other key change would be to mandate the fitting of immobilisers on such vehicles, before adding: “For over 20 years now, immobilisers have been mandatory for all new passenger cars sold in the United Kingdom... they are fundamental in preventing vehicle theft.

“Yet, despite the many functions of both quad bikes and ATVs, this rule does not currently apply to either. I put it to the House that that is simply preposterous.”

Speaking in support of the Bill, Conservative MP Jane Hunt (Loughborough) argued the “lack of security and safety measures” is almost a “criminal waste of police time”, before explaining: “They still have to deal with the crime and try to identify the perpetrators and so on. And yet they are not being helped by the manufacturer of the product.”

Several MPs also called for the measures intended to reduce theft of some rural equipment to be expanded to cover other items.

Shadow home office minister Holly Lynch, who confirmed the Bill has Labour’s support, said: “We hope that if enacted, secondary legislation will expand this Bill to cover a multitude of other agricultural and construction equipment.”