The Government recognises the distress and disruption that metal theft can cause, not only to businesses but also local communities of which churches are an important part.

The Home Office collects information from police forces on the number of metal theft incidents. These data are published annually by the Office for National Statistics and can be found in the ‘Property Crime tables’ here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables.

The data show whether or not the theft was infrastructure or non-infrastructure related. Data are available for the year ending March 2013 to March 2018, however they are not broken down to show how many incidents were related to theft of lead from church roofs or the method or country of disposal for the metal stolen.

The Government recognises the distress and disruption that metal theft can cause, not only to businesses but also local communities of which churches are an important part.

The Home Office collects information from police forces on the number of metal theft incidents. These data are published annually by the Office for National Statistics and can be found in the ‘Property Crime tables’ here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables.

The data show whether or not the theft was infrastructure or non-infrastructure related. Data are available for the year ending March 2013 to March 2018, however they are not broken down to show how many incidents were related to theft of lead from church roofs or the method or country of disposal for the metal stolen.

The Government recognises the distress and disruption that metal theft can cause, not only to businesses but also local communities of which churches are an important part.

The Home Office collects information from police forces on the number of metal theft incidents. These data are published annually by the Office for National Statistics and can be found in the ‘Property Crime tables’ here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables.

The data show whether or not the theft was infrastructure or non-infrastructure related. Data are available for the year ending March 2013 to March 2018, however they are not broken down to show how many incidents were related to theft of lead from church roofs or the method or country of disposal for the metal stolen.

​While we are aware of reports, which are worrying, we have not made an assessment of this issue. We regularly stress our concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The Government are not party to information on the replacement costs for lead stolen from churches in England, as this is the responsibility of local congregations. We have not had discussions with Historic England regarding the replacement of lead stolen from church roofs, nor the use of alternative materials in their replacement.

Government currently provides support to churches throughout the UK via the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which is presently funded to a maximum of £42m per annum. Established in 2001, the scheme provides grants towards VAT paid on repairs, maintenance and alterations to listed buildings that are used principally as places of worship.

The Government are not party to information on the replacement costs for lead stolen from churches in England, as this is the responsibility of local congregations. We have not had discussions with Historic England regarding the replacement of lead stolen from church roofs, nor the use of alternative materials in their replacement.

Government currently provides support to churches throughout the UK via the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which is presently funded to a maximum of £42m per annum. Established in 2001, the scheme provides grants towards VAT paid on repairs, maintenance and alterations to listed buildings that are used principally as places of worship.

To identify whether theft convictions were specifically related to theft of lead from churches in England would require manual searching of court records, which would be of disproportionate cost.

The National Church Institutions do not hold information centrally about the theft of metal from Church of England churches, but records are kept at a diocesan level. Anecdotal evidence points to an increase in instances of metal theft from churches nationwide, with East Anglia and the Midlands being most affected.

Home Office Counting Rules do not require the police to record if a theft is from a listed building. The Church of England welcomes the July 2019 Sentencing Council proposals to introduce new sentencing guidelines for arson, criminal damage and vandalism of national heritage assets, including listed buildings, historic objects or unique parts of our historic environment.

Money to fund repairs or adaptations to church buildings is raised by local churches mainly through fundraising and local giving. There is no central Government funding, except through grants in respect of VAT paid on repairs to listed churches.

The following table for the Diocese of St Albans shows cases of metal theft or attempted theft since 2015. The Diocese covers the majority of the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire area and contains 380 Anglican churches.

The Diocese provides advice to local churches on protective and preventative measures, including forensic marking and roof alarms, working with the Beds and Herts Historic Churches Trust and the Allchurches Trust. Grants of up to £3,000 per church have been made available to more than 55 churches in the Diocese. In addition the Diocesan Board of Finance allocated 29 roof alarm grants in 2017 and 2018 from small trust funds for church repairs and maintenance. As a result there has been a significant reduction in the number of cases of metal theft in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, though incidents still occur. For example, in June 2019 St Mary's Church in Furneux Pelham north east Hertfordshire, had 90% of its lead roof stolen or damaged over a single weekend.

The Government is aware of the European Chemicals Agency report on the regulation of the use of lead ammunition. The European Union Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals (EU REACH) committee is considering this report and will shortly make recommendations to the European Commission about the current regulation on the use of lead in gunshot over wetlands.

We will review our position once we have seen proposals from EU REACH.

The Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999 already offer protection for waterfowl.

In response to the 2015 report by the independent Lead Ammunition Group, Government concluded there was insufficient evidence to justify a change to the legislation.

The Government will consider the evidence review recently undertaken for the European Commission by the European Chemicals Agency before deciding if any changes to the current regulations are required.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate receives sampling data for drinking water from water companies formed when the water industry was privatised.

Lead - The results for 2017 are provided in Table 1:-

Through the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999, the use of lead shot ammunition is restricted to protect waterfowl from lead poisoning. Its use is banned on all foreshores, certain Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and for the shooting of all ducks and geese, coot and moorhen. The supply of lead weights for fishing is also prohibited.

Natural England is fully compliant with these regulations on the land which it manages. The Forestry Commission voluntarily decided to use non-lead alternatives on the public forest estate for the control of deer and wild boar. From November 2016 onwards all the venison processed through Forest Enterprise England (FEE) larders will have been culled with non-lead ammunition.

The Government is currently considering the Update Report from the Lead Ammunition Group.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is currently carrying out a review of the potential risks presented by lead ammunition to establish if a case can be made to regulate their use within the EU.

The Government will consider both the Lead Ammunition Group Update Report and the findings of the ECHA review before deciding whether any changes to the current Regulations are required. The EHCA review is expected to be published in the summer.

The Home Office collects data on police recorded metal thefts, but it is not possible from these data to identify whether the metal was taken from a church, nor the weight of the stolen metal

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes police recorded crime data on metal theft annually within their property crime tables. The latest figures, for the year ending March 2017, can be accessed here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables

Prosecutions data are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

In 2010, Roma families who were the victims of lead contamination while in the UN camps were resettled in Roma Mahalla and Fidanishte. The UK deployed three experts to test the air, soil and water in Roma Mahalla and Fidanishte to ensure that it was safe to relocate the Roma families to these areas.

Through our Embassy in Pristina, we support the return of displaced families from all communities, including Roma, to their place of origin. This financial year, the British Embassy’s Returns Project is supporting the return of five Roma families with housing and support packages.

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We recognise the cost and disruption that arises from these crimes and we would therefore support churches in taking all reasonable precautions to prevent them.

While data published by the Office for National Statistics on 6 December 2017 shows that police recorded metal theft has fallen from nearly 63,000 in 2012/13 to under 13,000 in 2016/17, we will continue to work with the police and others through the police-led National Metal Theft Working Group, which includes representatives from the heritage sector, to see what more can be done to prevent all types of metal theft.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes police recorded crime data on metal theft annually within their property crime tables. The latest figures, for the year ending March 2017, can be accessed here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables

The Office for National Statistics publishes national data on metal theft, but this does not differentiate between the type of metal stolen or its location.

The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 has helped to reduce the level of metal theft since it came into force in October 2013. The Home Office also works with a range of partners through the police-led National Metal Theft Working Group. This Group includes representatives from the heritage sector, and works to see what more can be done to prevent all types of metal theft, including the theft of lead from churches.

The Home Office also works with a range of partners through the police-led National Metal Theft Working Group. This Group includes representatives from the heritage sector, and works to see what more can be done to prevent all types of metal theft.