How could the authorities have got the UK’s vehicle theft statistics so wrong? asks the regular commentator on vehicle crime, retired cop Ken German.
The Home Office has confirmed there were 101,198 reported vehicle thefts in 2021, more than twice the figure of 48,400 that the West Midlands Police advised Grant Shapps earlier this year.
The often quoted figure of 48,400 seen in the national and motoring press in February 2020 seemed rather low and quite unrealistic. Indeed data received by Kent-based Claims Management & Adjusting Company (CMA) in answer to a Freedom of Information Act request shows a new Home Office figure of 101,198 vehicle thefts in England and Wales reported last year alone. That’s more than double that had been previously reported. The cost to insurers is now, CMA suggest is a staggering £1.5 billion pounds a year and rising when you factor in the increased value of vehicles, plummeting recovery rates and the condition of stolen vehicles when found.
YearVehicle theftsPercentage recoveredEstimated average vehicle valueEstimated total cost
2006180,00080pc£10k£360m
2021100,00028pc£20k£1.44bn
CMA managing director Philip Swift said: “The fact that 72pc of stolen vehicles are never recovered is a staggering failure. Having, to an extent, designed out ‘joy riding’, we appear to be left with organised criminals benefitting from the lack of attention now given to vehicle crime. Possibly this is why some constabularies no longer record approximate vehicle values, which is easy enough to do.”
In March, I read an article about car crime rocketing in the West Midlands, and how the local Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) had written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to demand action. That letter sent on the March 23 by email to the Right Hon Grant Shapps by Simon Foster the West Midlands PCC is as follows.
Dear Grant Shapps,
As you might be aware, there was a rise in vehicle thefts in Britain last year with almost 48,400 vehicles recorded as stolen in 2021.
There are a number of factors which are driving the significant increase in car thefts across the country. There is a global shortage of semiconductors and therefore the value of second-hand car parts has skyrocketed, making the market for car theft a lucrative one. The introduction of keyless technology has also led to the dramatic increase. Whilst I acknowledge this technology has made life more convenient for motorists, it has also made stealing vehicles easier for criminals.
Alongside this, the majority of car thefts are thought to be carried out by organised criminals who have begun to use technology to get around the onboard electronic security systems, such as copying digital keys or using devices to stop a car from locking.
West Midlands Police have prioritised car crime and are going after the organised criminals who are profiting from the thefts, but we also need manufacturers to look again at onboard car security features to ensure they are a top priority and fit for purpose.
In recent years West Midlands Police and I have been working hard to take meaningful action, having witnessed a dramatic rise in car theft in the West Midlands. With the aim of informing consumers about which vehicles are most commonly targeted, and therefore encourage manufacturers to improve security, we have been publishing data to show the vehicles most at risk.
Figures from West Midlands Police reveal that the manufacturer with the highest proportion of stolen cars was Abarth, with Alfa Romeo, Ford, Range Rover and Land Rover also ranking highly.
From 1992 until 2006 the Home Office started to publish an annual car theft index which too, showed which cars were most at risk of being stolen. With the apparent ease at which criminals are able to steal cars, I urge you to reconsider publishing car theft data so that drivers across the country can make informed decisions about which vehicles to buy and pressure is put on car manufacturers to improve security.
Not enough is being done by car manufacturers to ensure the security of vehicles and I urge the government to be better at holding car manufacturers to account for the security vulnerabilities they are failing to address.
More needs to be done to prevent cars from being stolen and I would welcome the government’s support in doing so.
I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely, Simon Foster, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.
Mr Swift added ‘This is very much our business, so we requested the correspondence under the FoI Act and it turned out to be extremely revealing as to the true extent of the vehicle crimewave we are currently experiencing in this country.”
He continued: “Whilst the rate has dropped from the 180,000 a year in 2006, when the Home Office stopped publishing the annual car theft index, you also have to look at the changing nature of car crime, view the picture as a whole, to understand the size of the problem and how to tackle it. Theft numbers are just one facet. Twenty years ago, the typical vehicle theft was an old Ford Escort. Now, it is a nearly new high-end Range Rover worth £100k. So for the insurance industry, in pound note terms, the current situation is significantly worse.”
On April 28 the Home Office replied to Simon Foster.
Dear Mr. Simon Foster,
Thank you for your letter of 23 March to the Rt. Hon Grant Shapps MP about vehicle theft in the West Midlands. Your letter was passed to the Neighbourhood Crime Unit at the Home Office, under the Rt. Hon Kit Malthouse MP’s portfolio as the Minister for Crime, Policing, and Probation.
I want to assure you that the Government is aware of the national issue of vehicle thefts. The latest police recorded crime figures for England and Wales show a 7pc increase in theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle from 94,601 offences in year ending December 2020 to 101,198 offences in year ending December 2021. However, the corona virus pandemic and resulting lockdowns had an impact on theft offences, with reductions in vehicle-related thefts seen during this time. Recent increases indicate a return to pre-pandemic levels, though theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle offences remain below where they were, with an 11pc decrease between 2019 and 2021. We are closely monitoring this situation and will continue efforts to reduce these thefts.
We are also aware of the significant levels of vehicle theft in the West Midlands, which has the second highest vehicle theft rate across all English and Welsh police forces, with theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle now above pre-pandemic levels, having increased 13pc from year ending 2019 to year ending 2021. You will be aware that the Minister recently commissioned a report from West Midlands Police to better understand why this is. The report provided was helpful in setting out why vehicle-related thefts have been increasing nationally, and details of the operational activity within West Midlands Police.
The Government is working with policing leads to ensure all relevant partners are taking action to tackle this crime, including manufacturers. We continue to take forward a programme of work to tackle vehicle-related theft through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, which is chaired by the NPCC lead for vehicle crime, ACC Jenny Sims. This group includes motor vehicle manufacturers, as well as police and insurance industry representatives. This work is overseen by the Government’s Crime and Justice Taskforce, which is chaired by the Prime Minister and aims to reduce neighbourhood crime. This includes consideration of how to effectively prevent and deter both theft of and theft from vehicles. We are aware of the issue of electronic compromise to steal vehicles and are working with the affected manufacturers. ACC Sims is taking forward discussions with manufacturers about how to further build intelligence to prevent these thefts, in particular keyless thefts targeting Jaguar Land Rover vehicles. ACC Sims is also organising a summer conference, and will invite law enforcement and industry partners to discuss key drivers of vehicle thefts.
Through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we have established a horizon scanning group with academics, vehicle manufacturers and policing leads to identify potential future trends, threats and vulnerability in vehicle security and vehicle-related crime. Research will be undertaken to develop actions to mitigate future opportunities to criminally exploit technological and design changes in the automotive industry.
We are also working to help police forces increase the knowledge and skills of their officers in relation to vehicle crime. A network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales. The Group meets every quarter to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and better tackle regional issues.
Alongside this, we are committed to reducing the ability for criminals to profit from crime, making it less attractive for offenders to steal property. We have established a group of expert policing and academic partners who are taking forward work across a number of themes. These include actions to identify where and how stolen goods are commonly sold; examining ways to ensure property is marked, identifiable and traceable; and exploring ways to share best practice between forces, such as the We Don’t Buy Crime initiative. This initiative has proved successful in West Mercia and Gwent police forces; it enables police to work closely with second-hand goods traders to reduce the sale of stolen property.
Both the stolen goods and vehicle crime programmes of work feed in to the NPCC serious and organised acquisitive crime portfolio, led by DCC Amanda Blakeman. This ensures the organised element of vehicle-related and other acquisitive crime receives the appropriate response across forces nationally.
We welcome the action you and West Midlands Police are taking to publish data on the vehicles most at risk of theft. I note your suggestion that the Government begins publishing national data on this, similar to that published until 2006. We feel the work we are doing with motor manufacturers through the NVCWG is the appropriate means to explore options to improve vehicle security and reduce the opportunities for theft. In addition, Thatcham Research conducts a National Vehicle Security Assessment for new vehicles which is applied to the group rating for insurance companies. Thatcham works with law enforcement, the automotive industry and insurers to assess potential physical and electronic vulnerabilities in vehicles. Manufacturers proactively engage with this process to make their vehicles more secure. Vehicle owners can check their vehicle’s insurance grouping, including a security rating, on the Thatcham website.
Thank you for raising this important issue. I hope I have assured you that the Government takes these matters seriously and is determined to drive down crime.
Yours sincerely, A. Green, Neighbourhood Crime Unit
The changing nature of car crime of which theft numbers are just a facet is clearly not fully known nor is the size of the problem and how really to tackle it. Indeed it is still believed that at some executive levels of the police, vehicle crime is seen in essence as ‘victimless’.
Some dedicated police officers working at the ‘coal face’ of vehicle crime sometimes for eight hours a day, seven days a week recovering valuable hoards of partly stripped cars are bemused when told from above not to bother with vehicles stolen in other force areas for financial reasons and they are all worried this lack of cross-border working is detrimental to the public and to the reputation of the service.
