New Weapon To Fight the Devastating Impact of Metal Theft

The fight against metal theft

Authorities have been given their most powerful tool yet in the fight to combat the menace of metal theft, according to organisers of the biggest conference of its kind to highlight the issue.

The Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC), the Scottish Government’s business resilience delivery arm, has planned the summit to bring together industry experts and enforcement agencies to highlight the damaging impact that metal theft has across all Scottish businesses and communities.

The event comes as the Scottish Government has announced key legislation which prohibits scrap metal dealers from accepting cash payments and forces them to identify sellers in a bid to tighten the rules regarding the trade of scrap metal.

Jim Scott, Metal Theft and Business Resilience Lead at SBRC, said: “The new legislation provides the authorities with their most powerful tool in the fight against metal theft.

“By ensuring scrap metal dealers no longer accept cash payments, along with measures to record and verify the identity of people selling metal, it will provide greater traceability and curb the potential for criminal behaviour.”

The Metal Theft Summit will highlight the changes under the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, which come into force from September 1, but will also provide a forum to highlight issues in the lead-up to the introduction of the new laws.

Jim added: “This Metal Theft Summit will bring together key voices and leaders on a crime which continues to severely harm businesses and wreak havoc in communities – whether that be through stolen lead in church roofs, catalytic converters stolen from vehicles, or phone lines ripped from the ground.

“As part of our drive to tackle metal theft, we must look to improve reporting and vigilance, as well as raise awareness of the responsibilities faced by those who trade in scrap metal – especially in the lead up to the legislation changes.”

Alongside British Transport Police, the SBRC has been working in partnership with Police Scotland, DWP and Trading Standards to ensure the success of Operation Scandium – an awareness raising initiative, which included stopping vehicles across major Scottish towns and cities to educate drivers about scrap metal legislation.

Jim added: “Operation Scandium has been extremely successful in making people conscious of issues of metal theft, but these crimes still continue to be a problem.

“Although Operation Scandium has been successful in increasing knowledge, metal theft is still and issue as it is a cash rich industry. Until the new legislation is put in place, summits such as these are extremely important in underlining what people can do to help reduce these crimes.”

Chief Superintendent John McBride of the British Transport Police said: “We will continue to work closely with the industry and a wide range of partners to ensure the affect of the new legislation is communicated and understood.

"While we have seen a welcome decrease in the number of incidents from a high of several years ago, metal theft continues to disrupt and inconvenience industry and the public as well as being costly to rectify.”

The Metal Theft Summit is being held at the Scottish Fire and Rescue National Training Centre in Cambuslang on February 23.

Tickets for the event start from £25, with exhibitor opportunities also available on request.