Tackling van and tool theft

That this House recognises the severe impact that thefts from and of work vans have on tradespeople and small business owners across the United Kingdom, including loss of income, business disruption and emotional distress; notes that tradespeople rely on their vehicles and tools to earn a living and that repeated thefts can put individuals out of business; further notes that nationally only a very small proportion of vehicle offences of any kind lead to a suspect being charged, and that information released by police forces shows similarly low detection rates for thefts from and of work vans; also notes that stolen tools are often quickly resold, making recovery difficult and creating a strong market incentive for offending; welcomes the work being undertaken by police forces, local policing oversight bodies and industry partners to disrupt the resale of stolen tools and support prevention; notes the Government’s decision not to extend the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 to tradespeople’s power tools at this time; and calls on the Government to work with policing bodies, manufacturers, insurers and trade organisations to develop a coordinated national approach that improves prevention, strengthens disruption of stolen-goods markets, increases detection, and better protects tradespeople from crime.