The Countryside Alliance is supporting, and helped develop, the Equipment Theft (Prevention Bill). Led in the House of Lords by Lord Blencathra, it is scheduled for its Third Reading on Friday 14 July. We call on parliamentarians and the Government to maintain their overwhelming support for this Bill, secure its passage, commence its provisions in good time and monitor its effectiveness closely.
While some crimes including agricultural machinery theft are specific to rural areas, others often share similarities with their equivalents in urban areas. Nevertheless, distinct solutions are required to tackle them.
We have called for a National Rural Crime Taskforce to grow understanding of rural communities’ needs by government and the police, the review of the funding formula to result in increased funding and resources for rural policing teams, improved training of police and the judiciary as to the nature and impact of rural crime, and a greater determination to take rural crime and its impacts seriously.
As long-term campaigners on the issue of combating rural crime and a founding member of the National Rural Crime Network, the Countryside Alliance conducts an annual survey of rural communities’ experiences and perceptions over the past calendar year. The 2023 Rural Crime Survey will be live later this year and the results of our 2022 Rural Crime Survey can be read here.
You can read our Briefing Note in full by downloading it below.