Scrap Metal Theft

LEGAL AID, SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT OF OFFENDERS BILL - COMMITTEE 10TH DAY

2012-02-16T09:03:00.004Z

Amendment 189 moved by Lord Faulkner of Worcester
: After Clause 131, insert the following new Clause-
"Amendment to the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964
In section 5 (other offences relating to scrap metal) after subsection (2) insert-
"(3) If any scrap metal dealer accepts or makes payment in cash, that dealer shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(4) When deciding the level of fine to be charged under subsections (1) to (3), a court may take into account-
(a) the value of the scrap metal in question;
(b) the provenance of the scrap metal in question;
(c) the compliance of the scrap metal dealer with the provisions of sections 1 to 3 of this Act generally; and
(d) any other factors which the court deems to be relevant.""

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, I move Amendment 189 not with the purpose of having a lengthy debate on scrap metal theft and the move towards a cashless transaction regime tonight, but in order to give the Minister the opportunity to explain to the Committee what the Government intend to do with this issue at Report. If it is the Government's intention on Report to move their own amendment on becoming cashless, I shall seek the leave of the Committee to withdraw the amendment later. I thank the other noble Lords who have signed this amendment: the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London, whose perseverance and endurance I pay tribute to by seeing him in his place here this evening.

This is a very important issue. It is part of a package of measures which I hope that the Government are going to take on board in relation to the epidemic of scrap metal theft. It may be that tonight the Minister could also say something about what the Government intend to do about powers of entry and closure of premises where there is suspicion that they contain stolen metal. If, in addition to that, he can also confirm that the Government are intending to bring forward substantive legislation in the new Session to update the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964, my cup genuinely will runneth over. I beg to move.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): My Lords, I am grateful to noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, for introducing this amendment to highlight this important issue? Like him, I pay tribute to the right reverend Prelate for his perseverance in staying here at this late hour for this matter. The right reverend Prelate was one of the earliest who came to see me to highlight this issue, particularly as it related to churches. However, as so many have said before, it is not just the churches, but it is the power companies, the transport companies and so many others. I do not want to go through the wide range of people who have been affected by it.

The noble Lord will be aware that my right honourable friend the Home Secretary announced on 26 January that the Government would be bringing forward amendments in the Bill to strengthen the law in this area. I repeated this as a Written Ministerial Statement in this House. In that Written Statement, my right honourable friend indicated that the government amendments would create a new criminal offence to prohibit cash payments to purchase scrap metal and significantly increase the fines for offences under the existing Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 which regulates that industry. This forms part of a coherent package of measures that we are taking to tackle metal theft. We aim to deter both thieves and metal dealers through more focused enforcement and tougher penalties. We will cut out the reward for metal thieves by banning cash payments for scrap metal and reducing the incentives for dealers to trade in stolen metals by developing a more rigorous licensing regime. These amendments are but a first step, albeit an important one. I underline that to the noble Lord.

Obviously, I welcome the support of the noble Lord and while I am sure that he is going to withdraw his amendment, he asked a crucial question about powers of entry and what we should do there. There are problems. As the noble Lord knows, Section 6(1) of the 1964 Act-an Act that he and I have both described on various occasions as being past its sell-by date-already provides police with a power of entry to premises registered as a scrap metal dealers under that Act. Section 6(2) further provides a power of entry to any officer of the local authority duly authorised in writing to enter a place for the purpose of ascertaining whether it is being used as a scrap metal store and, as such, officers of the local authority have a power of entry to premises not registered under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act.

It is intended that the national metal theft task force will visit every single registered and unregistered scrap metal yard in the course of its routine business. One element of that visit will be to ensure registration under the 1964 Act. As such, we expect that the number of scrap metal dealers that are not registered under the Act, and consequently where the police do not have the power of entry, will be greatly reduced. In addition, we are actively looking into the option of widening police powers as part of our amendments. If that is something that we can deal with later on Report, we will do so.

I hope that, with those assurances about what we are definitely going to do and what we hope to do if we see a way to do it, the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw his amendment. I want to make clear to him, though, that we have a coherent package, we want to get ahead of this and we want to look at further amendments to the 1964 Act in due course. I hope that we can get, as I put it, a coherent package that we can bring before the House.

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister. I pay tribute to him for the way in which he has dealt with me so courteously since I first tabled this amendment immediately after Second Reading, which seems to be a very long time ago now. He has done exactly what he said on that occasion and has given the undertaking that on Report the Government will table an amendment on cashless payments. He has also given us some hope on entry to premises.

I hope that the Government will find time for this in the next Session, will not be deflected from unnecessary legislation that clogs up this House and will deal with something really important: the problem of scrap metal theft. On the basis of the assurances that the Minister has given today, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 189 withdrawn.

SCRAP METAL DEALERS

2012-01-27T09:40:00.005Z

26 January 2012:
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Theresa May)
announced today the Government's intention to lay an amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill to tackle metal theft. 2012

Read statement in full

CURBS ON SCRAP METAL DEALERS TO BE ANNOUNCED

2012-01-25T10:00:00.010Z

25 January 2012: David Millward, Transport Editor, writes in the Daily Telegraph

"The ban on cash trading will be implemented by a new clause in the Legal Aid Bill, which is currently before MPs. In addition the Government is also ready to scrap the £1,000 limit on fines for trading stolen scrap metal. Both measures are expected to come into force by April."

Read article in full

GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN ON METAL THEFT

2012-01-05T09:25:00.009Z

Andrew Hosken investigates the scrap metal theft epidemic for Radio 4's The Report. Listen tonight - Thursday 5 January - at 8.00pm on Radio 4. Read what he says: Government crackdown on metal theft on BBC News

Britain's £5bn-a-year scrap industry is facing tougher regulation as part of a government crackdown on metal theft.
People selling scrap could be required to register and face identity checks.And cash payments could be banned, to make metal transactions easier to trace, Home Office minister, Lord Henley told the BBC.

Hospitals, the rail network, utility companies, churches and war memorials have all been targeted in recent years by thieves attracted by the rising prices of non-ferrous metals such as copper.

"I think it likely that we will have to regulate," said Lord Henley, the Home Office minister responsible for crime prevention. "We will have to improve the 1964 Scrap Metal Dealers Act which colleagues have been saying is well past its sell-by date." Legislation could be in the form of a private member's bill currently before parliament, but Lord Henley said the government would need to see the proposals in detail before deciding whether to back them.

Read BBC article in full

CRIME: METAL THIEVES

2011-12-16T14:12:00.002Z

15 December 2011: Lord Faulkner of Worcester asked Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to establish a nationwide task force to target metal thieves.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): My Lords, the Government recognise the growing problem of metal theft and are taking urgent steps to address it. Five million pounds has been provided to establish a dedicated national task force to significantly increase enforcement activity to deal with both scrap metal dealers who trade in stolen metal and those who steal metal.

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, that is fine as far as it goes but does the Minister agree with what his Home Office colleague James Brokenshire said in the other place on Monday? Mr Brokenshire estimated that the cost of metal theft may be now as much as £777 million a year and said,
"we have now reached the stage where the only conclusion is that new legislation is needed to tackle metal theft".-[Official Report, Commons, 12/12/11; col. 508.]
As a vital first step, will the Minister accept my amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which would make cash transactions for scrap metal sales illegal, bearing in mind that probably as much as £1 billion out of the £5 billion in this industry is accounted for in cash and is the cause of most of the problems?

2011-12-05T10:06:00.003Z

OPERATION TORNADO TO BE TRIALLED IN NORTH EAST

2011-12-05T10:02:00.004Z

5 December 2011: Operation Tornado is being trialled in the North East from January 2012 to make it easier to trace the sellers of stolen metal.

It will involve the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Home Office, British Metals Recycling Association and Northumbria, Durham and Cleveland Police and will aim to tackle the problem of metal theft.

From January, anyone selling scrap metal to participating dealers in the North East will need to produce identification.

© BBC News

HOME OFFICE APPOINTS NATIONAL TASK FORCE WITH £5 MILLION FUND TO TACKLE METAL THEFT

2011-11-30T14:35:00.003Z

30 November 2011: The Home Office issued the following press release:

A new national metal theft taskforce is to be set up following a £5million boost from the Treasury.

As part of our committment to tackle crime, the Home Office recognises metal theft as a serious problem, and is working with other departments and law enforcement on co-ordinated action to tackle it.

The new multi-agency taskforce, led by the British Transport Police, will target both metal thieves and scrap metal dealers who trade in stolen goods and fuel the demand.

Disrupt criminal networks
The taskforce will develop intelligence, coordinate activity and target and disrupt criminal networks - both the thieves and also the criminal market, including rogue elements of the scrap metal industry.

Crime Prevention Minister Lord Henley welcomed today's announcement: 'The Government recognises that metal theft is a serious and growing national and international problem that causes significant damage to communities, businesses, and the UK's infrastructure telecommunications, rail and power networks.'

LEGAL AID, SENTENCING AND PUNISHMENT OF OFFENDERS BILL - 2nd READING

2011-11-22T09:00:00.003Z

21 November 2011: Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, at this late hour I do not intend to detain the House for long and shall concentrate on just one issue. In Committee, I intend to table two amendments to Part 3, Chapter 8, to amend the Scrap Metal Dealers' Act. The first would have the effect of making cash transactions in the buying and selling of scrap metal illegal. The second would introduce criminal charges for theft of scrap metal which take into account aspects of the crime other than the value of the scrap metal stolen.
See Hansard report

REMEMBRANCE DAY: MOTION TO TAKE NOTE

2011-11-15T18:18:00.019Z

10 November 2011:
As chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary War Heritage Group, I spoke on two matters of particular concern during this debate:

the desecration of war memorials by scrap metal thieves
the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War in 2014

"On the subject of metal theft, I endorse everything that the noble Lord, Lord Selkirk, said. The situation is now almost out of control. The increase in the world price of scrap metal, particularly copper, has made it a lucrative crime. It is also one that it is easy to get away with, mainly because of the inadequacies of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964. The absence of a proper licensing system for dealers, the use of cash to settle transactions and the imposition of absurdly low penalties for breaches of the law have all combined to produce the present epidemic of crime.

I shall resist the temptation today to speak at length about the disruption to train services caused by cable theft on the railways, the damage to churches as a result of the stealing of lead from church roofs or the attack on public services in the electricity and telecommunications industry, but I want to say something about the desecration of war memorials. At Prime Minister's Question Time last week, Mr Cameron described it as,

"an absolutely sickening and disgusting crime".-[Official Report, Commons, 2/11/11; col. 918.]
In an article in the Daily Telegraph on Monday this week, the Mayor of London wrote about how the plaques on a war memorial in Sidcup commemorating the deaths of 342 in both world wars, including that of Lieutenant George Cairns, who won the Victoria Cross in an act of extraordinary bravery in the Burma campaign in 1944, had been, in Boris Johnson's words,

"brutally jemmied off and sold for scrap".
Your Lordships may recall that in the exchanges on my Oral Question on 3 October, the noble Lord, Lord Tope, whom I am delighted to see in his place, spoke about the theft, just a week before, of 14 brass memorial plaques from Carshalton war memorial. There are countless other examples all over the country.

Following my Question, I have received scores of letters and e-mails all asking for the law to be changed. My response to that on 19 October was to introduce a Private Member's Bill to amend the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964. I have been a Member of your Lordships' House long enough to know that the chances of seeing a Private Member's Bill through to enactment are pretty remote unless it has already been passed in the other place or the Government take it over. I am therefore, as an insurance, pursuing an alternative route with the help of the Public Bill Office. I hope to be able to announce something soon in the hope that I shall be able to count on the Government's support for what comes forward. I am looking with some intensity at the government Chief Whip as I say this.

Read Hansard report for my contribution in full

SCRAP METAL DEALERS (AMENDMENT) BILL [HL] 2010-11

2011-10-19T18:19:00.002+01:00

19 October 2011: First reading of Private Member's Bill

Keep up to date with progress of this Bill
Sign e-petition - Cashless Scrap Metal Trade
Also see my Question of 3 October 2011: Railways:Theft

RAILWAYS:THEFT

2011-10-03T18:20:00.009+01:00

3 October 2011: Lord Faulkner of Worcester asked Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to amend the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 to prohibit cash transactions, as a means of reducing metal theft.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Henley): My Lords, the Government recognise the significance of metal theft to the United Kingdom. The Home Office is in discussion with other government departments to identify whether any legislative changes are needed to tackle metal theft, including the possibility of moving to a cashless model.

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord on his promotion. I express my regret at the departure from the Government of the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, and wish her a full recovery.
I am pleased that the Government appear to be taking the problem of metal theft seriously. Is the noble Lord aware-I am sure he is-that ACPO reckons that the cost to the United Kingdom economy last year of this crime was something in the order of £770 million and that the problem is getting worse with the rise in the price of scrap metal? I doubt whether there are many Members of your Lordships' House whose trains have not been delayed as the result of the theft of signalling cable, which is adding thousands of hours of delay to train schedules. Does the Minister agree that the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 is now out of date and that it needs to be replaced by new legislation that increases maximum penalties, eliminates the payment of cash as a means of settling transactions and moves to a system of licensing in place of the registration that exists at present?

Lord Henley: My Lords, I join the noble Lord in expressing regret at the departure of my noble friend. We will all miss her very much on these Benches and I only hope that I can perform even half as well as she did, although I hope that I can get majorities larger than the equality that she got on the last Division that she took through this House. We will certainly miss her on this Front Bench.

The noble Lord is right to point to the problems of metal theft. There is not just the direct cost but the cost to the transport industry, to the power transmission industry and to others. We will look at all possible changes that we can make. The noble Lord is right to draw attention to the 1964 Act and possible changes to bring in a cashless model. Whether that would necessarily improve matters needs looking at, but it would certainly improve the traceability of metals and might make it harder for criminals to dispose of them for cash. That is why we want to look at it.

Lord Jenkin of Roding: My Lords, does my noble friend recognise that we are still legally in the age of Steptoe and Son and that it really is now time to bring the legislation up to date, in particular to give the police stronger powers to intervene to close down illicit scrap merchants who trade in stolen property and make absolutely no effort to discover where it has come from?

Lord Henley: My noble friend is quite right to draw attention to the problems, but it is not just the police who have a role in this; I am thinking of the previous department which I had the honour to serve in. The Environment Agency also has a role, although, admittedly, that role is reserved purely for environmental matters. There is no reason why that role should not be extended to deal with those who are trading in an irresponsible or criminal manner. Having said that, one should always be aware of the danger that one just shifts the problems on to illegal sites and it is therefore very important that we look very carefully at anything we do and what the consequences of any action are likely to be.

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, in comparison with the very large figure quoted, £26 million, which is the bill for the lead theft from church roofs, might strike noble Lords as rather small, but it is a very great pressure on local communities. Is the Minister aware that one step that we believe would have an impact on the problem and to which he has already referred-making cashless transactions the rule for scrap metal merchants-is, in fact, the rule in almost every other European country, including Bulgaria?

Lord Henley: My Lords, I am very grateful to the right reverend Prelate for drawing that to our attention and for emphasising the problems that we and the church are facing. I know that he has been in touch with the Home Office and that Ministers have responded to the church's concerns about these matters. He is quite right to draw attention to the advantage of the cashless model, but there are other matters that we could look at, such as design, material and even, I understand, reviewing the properties of the copper and lead themselves to see whether they can be made more traceable in due course.

Lord Berkeley: My Lords, is the Minister aware that it is not only the railways and power transmission that are affected but telecoms cables? Is he also aware that a lot of these people just stuff the cables into containers and export them? Am I right in detecting a lack of urgency in the Government coming up with a solution, which could be very serious?

Lord Henley: I completely refute the idea that there is a lack of urgency. Only the day before my noble friend left the job that I am now in, she hosted a meeting of Ministers from a whole range of departments to look at the problems facing us and what we ought to do. However, I am grateful to the noble Lord for pointing out that an awful lot of this metal is not going to scrap metal dealers but going straight into containers and being exported. I have mentioned the role that the Environment Agency has to play in that, which we will look at.

Lord Tope: My Lords, I encourage the Minister in his urgency in dealing with this problem by letting him know that only last week in my borough 14 brass memorial plaques were stolen from Carshalton war memorial and a local church discovered that its bell had been stolen. This almost everyday occurrence is being experienced all over the country. In addition to the methods suggested by the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, will the Minister also look at making it a legal requirement for scrap metal dealers to register and to check the details of all those selling scrap metal to them?

Lord Henley: My Lords, my noble friend is right to draw attention to the fact that not just the more valuable metals like copper and lead are affected but a whole range of others. He mentioned that brass plaques have been stolen; I assure him that there have even been cases of things such as cast-iron manhole covers being stolen, which have relatively little value but can cause major problems if they are stolen. That is why, as I have tried to make clear, we treat this problem urgently and wish to address it as soon as possible.

Read Hansard report
Tackling scrap metal theft - an article I wrote for ePolitix.com
Sign the online e-petition Cashless Scrap Metal Trade at
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/406