Written question asked by Graham P Jones (Labour) on Thursday, 24 October 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 29 October 2019 (named day). It was answered by Kit Malthouse (Conservative) on Tuesday, 5 November 2019 on behalf of the Home Office.

Catalytic Converters: Theft

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps police forces are taking to improve the recording of thefts of catalytic converters from motor vehicles.

Answer

The Government recognises the distress and disruption that metal theft, including the theft of catalytic converters, can cause.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes police recorded crime data on metal theft offences annually which can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables. Whilst the ONS data does not separate out theft of catalytic converters, this would be recorded under non-infrastructure related incidents.

We continue to work closely with the police, industry and others to understand what more we can do to tackle vehicle-related theft.

Secondary information