HAE welcomes theft prevention bill
21 July 2023
The HAE, working with the Hire Forum for Fraud and Security, has responded to the Home Office ‘call for evidence’ on the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill. The Bill, which has just received Royal Assent, started life as a Private Member’s Bill, but became a piece of legislation firmly backed by Home Office ministers.
The initiative came about to address the level of equipment theft in rural areas, particularly all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), but also power tools and other items being stolen from self-employed contractors and others, such as small to medium enterprises (SMEs), impacting on their livelihoods.
Government ministers have now adapted this proposed legislation to broaden the scope as above so that all equipment above a certain, as yet unconfirmed value, will need to be forensically marked and details entered onto a database. The primary responsibility for this will rest with suppliers and manufacturers, not retailers and hire businesses.
HAE says it now awaits further discussions on the outcome of the consultation and the emergence of draft regulations providing more of the detail on how this will be brought about and enforced.
The joint response set out detailed comments on the proposals which will form the basis for regulations to bring the legislation into effect, starting with measures to tackle ATV theft. Subsequent regulations will widen the scope to cover agricultural and construction equipment (power tools but potentially a wider scope).
Key issues raised by the HAE/Hire Forum response were:
• The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill (now Act 2023) represents the first legislative attempt to tackle the criminality faced by hire businesses and more widely in construction.
• Around 75 per cent of construction equipment needs are fulfilled by the hire industry and it is estimated that around 80 per cent of UK-related manufacturing output is purchased by the hire sector.
• HAE and other Forum members says it supports the aims outlined in the Bill, but much of the practical effect of this legislation when enacted will be brought about through regulations. It says that it is in all parties’ interests (and perhaps not in the best interests of offenders) that the provisions are closely aligned to practical experience and operational circumstances within the hire and other sectors.
• As the legislation would apply to England and Wales only, there will be operational implications for businesses operating across the UK or in Scotland and Northern Ireland only.
• The regulations need to be clear on compliance where equipment is moved across the UK to meet customer demand – this is an important aspect of the hire industry.
• The regulations and guidance will need to explain the definition of ‘power tools’ and to make clear that this value relates to the purchase cost and not any subsequent valuation.
• Further explanation will need to be provided if a machine’s battery, charger and any ancillaries are to be included or excluded from that valuation; this is important because in some cases the power cell is worth more than the tool it is powering.
• HAE supports adopting a financial value threshold to require hand-held power tools to be forensically marked and registered on a database prior to sale set at £500 as this would cover items of significant value in terms of loss, but also of illegal value to thieves or providing utility for repurposing for criminal activity (for example, in ATM cash machine crime).
• The hire industry is seeking more guidance as to the acceptable requirements for forensic marking, although HAE accepts that it is not appropriate to specify products or vendors in the regulations or guidance. In its view, this detailed explanation should be outcome orientated – what would the marking seek to achieve: deterrence, recovery, or tracing or all three?
• Database registration provisions require more detail and explanation. HAE assumes that registration applies only to the initial owner/purchaser (which would be the hire business) and seeks confirmation of this. It points out that in hire, inventory is often relocated based on customer demand, or is re-hired to other hire businesses to help them to fulfil demand. Ownership does not transfer, but operational control does. On that basis, the association and other Forum members agree that constant updating of the database(s) to reflect this would be disproportionately burdensome. Inventory can also be sold to other hire businesses or at auction when the initial purchaser decides to dispose of any item which retains usability.
• HAE also assumes that the databases will not require updating each time this takes place.
• Finally, the association and other Forum members note the proposal that the online database(s) will be the responsibility of the vendor of the forensic marking product being used. The regulations will need to define what happens if businesses cease trading or merge/transfer etc.
Read the debate in the House of Lords on the Bill’s Third Reading in Hansard here and the Home Office Call for Evidence here.
