Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act: summary of call for evidence responses and conclusion

Product Description

The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 seeks to prevent the theft of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), such as quad bikes. It provides the Secretary of State with the power to make regulations to ensure, prior to sale, that immobilisers are fitted as standard to all new ATVs and there is a visible marking and forensic marking applied on all such new vehicles. The seller will also be required to record the buyer’s details for a period to be determined in regulations. This will assist police to identify the owner of a recovered stolen ATV.

The Act provides a power for the Secretary of State to extend the legislation via secondary legislation to other equipment designed or adapted primarily for use in agricultural or commercial activities. This could include, for example, requiring forensic marking of tradespeople’s power tools.

On 18 May 2023, the Home Office launched an eight-week Call for Evidence, targeted at those who may be affected by the proposals should they become legislation, including manufacturers, dealers, retailers, forensic marking companies, trade associations, tradespeople, and law enforcement practitioners.

The consultation asked for views on the following measures:

• Definition of ATVs and agricultural equipment
• Whether removable Global Positioning Systems (GPS) should be required to be forensically marked
• The Recommended Retail Price (RRP) threshold for requiring hand-held power tools to be forensically marked and registered on a database prior to sale
• The specifications of immobiliser, and any implications for vehicle type approval
• The specifications for forensic marking; and
• The specifications for registration on databases.

The government has analysed the responses, which are summarised in this document.