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Comment
Stopping thieves
in their tracks
Each year, thefts of copper cabling cost the rail industry more than 16,000 hours in
delays. James Perry explains how the Metal Theft (Prevention) Bill could help
Trecycling of scrap metal
generates £5bn a year in the
UK, and yet it is largely run
on a cash-in-hand basis with
little in the way of checks and
balances. As a result, it is an
industry that has become a breeding ground
for illegal activity, with unscrupulous dealers
buying and trading in stolen metal.
Unscrupulous thieves have resorted to
stealing everything from memorial plaques
to padlocks on power substations. But no
industry has been a more attractive target
than the rail network, a fact that is seriously
harming the rail industry, which suffers 2,700
thefts every year.
A 70 per cent increase in overhead power
cables thefts, reported by British Transport
Police, is beginning to cause serious issues to
passenger safety.
When one train got stranded last year,
passengers who were fed up with waiting
exited from the carriages onto the tracks,
crossing live rails before reaching the
embankment.
The Metal Theft (Prevention) Bill
was proposed in the House of Commons
on 15 November 2011 by Graham Jones
MP. The bill aims to steer the scrap metal
industry towards regulation – reducing
metal thefts in the process – by imposing a
comprehensive system of regulation, which
will require dealers to purchase a licence and
take steps to ensure they are not accepting
stolen materials. Sellers of scrap will need to
provide valid photo ID and proof of address,
the details of which will be entered into a
searchable national database.
The bill also directly addresses the
serious issue of the cash-in-hand culture,
which makes up 20 per cent of the industry’s
value, and lays out plans to restrict all deals
to cashless payments, while also preventing
dealers from processing the metal before
the payment has cleared. Finally, the bill
looks to extend the remit of the police and
A trackside patrol keeps
an eye on a copper theft
hotspot
magistrates courts, giving the police powers
to search dealerships and close those found
to be harbouring stolen materials. The courts
will be allowed to add restrictions to dealers’
licences and prevent yards that have been
closed for illegal dealings from re-opening.
It has also been suggested that a clearer
policy should be used to ensure scrap metal
thefts are a focus of the Serious Organised
Crime Association which recovers assets
through its powers under the Proceeds of
Crime Act 2002.
Authorities in some bodies have already
taken matters into their own hands to
combat metal thefts. In the north east of
England, for example, a trial has been put in
place requiring those selling scrap metal to
participating dealers to provide proof of their
identity, as per the guidelines in the bill.
This initiative, dubbed Operation
Tornado, is being spearheaded by the
British Metals Recycling Association,
British Transport Police, Association of
Chief Police Officers and the police forces
in Northumbria, Durham and Cleveland.
It is expected to remain in place for six
months with the option to extend it further,
and is likely to be used as a benchmark for
implementation if the bill is passed.
Although the bill was scheduled for its
second reading in January, this has now been
postponed until March to give parliament
more time to consider it. If the voice of
key industry leaders is taken into account
by parliament during the debates on this
bill, then hopefully the rail industry will be
able to ensure that any new legislation goes
far enough to protect them – and all other
industries – from the thefts that are turning
the scrap metal sector into a black market.
James Perry is the senior solicitor in
the banking and finance recoveries team at
business solicitors DWF
march 2012 Page 31