On 17 October, the government published its response to the Home Office's Call for Evidence to provide secondary legislation that would extend the scope of the Equipment Theft Act.
In its response, the government has said it will introduce regulations to Parliament this year which will require all new ATVs and GPS units to have forensic markings and for the details to be registered on a property database.
The NFU worked closely with Greg Smith, MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, and the National Rural Crime Unit on the Equipment Theft Act, which became law in 2023, giving the Home Secretary the power to make regulations that deter the theft and resale of quads and ATVs.
“Rural crime continues to be a huge issue for our members and we welcome the government’s recognition of its devastating consequences in the Equipment Theft Act’s secondary legislation.”
NFU Vice-president Rachel Hallos
Progress made, but missed opportunity on larger kit
NFU Vice-president Rachel Hallos welcomed the recognition from the government of the "devastating consequences" of rural crime for farming businesses.
“Former Minister for Policing and Crime Prevention Dame Diana Johnson’s remarks at our NFU summer reception earlier this year – that there is still more to be done in tackling machinery theft – still rings true,” Rachel said. “The inclusion of removable GPS units in the legislation is a positive step forward, especially with GPS theft still on the rise and the NFU Mutual’s latest report showing it cost more than £4 million last year.”
The NFU Vice-president did express disappointment, however, that key measures such as mandatory immobilisers for new ATVs, protections for larger agricultural vehicles or even GPS units integrated with larger machinery have been left out.
Since the Equipment Theft Act came into law the NFU has been urging the government to extend the measures outlined within it to include GPS units, which have increasingly become frequent targets for theft.
We argued that introducing a mandatory register for ATVs and other high-value equipment, alongside defined standards for immobilisers, forensic marking and tracking technologies to support stolen machinery recovery, would be crucial steps toward deterring organised crime gangs targeting farming businesses.
The government's response to the call for evidence confirmed that secondary legislation will not cover fitting immobilisers to new ATVs and will not extend to other large agricultural machinery.
“While progress has been made, this response feels like a missed opportunity to deliver meaningful deterrents against the organised criminal networks targeting our sector,” Rachel added.
The NFU will continue to lobby for improved security for farm equipment. There are a number of ways the Act can be strengthened including:
- fitting immobilisers on new ATVs
- the legislation extended to larger agricultural equipment.
