A firm that secures void property has welcomed the final reading of a Bill seeking to counter metal thefts.
VPS welcomed the final stage of the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill through the House of Lords on Tuesday, February 12. That evening the BBC screened a documentary ‘The Hunt for Britain’s Metal Thieves’ stating: ‘The high price of metal has led organised criminal gangs to tear apart Britain’s infrastructure, stripping metal from railways, power stations, churches and even war memorials’.
Simon Alderson, Commercial Director of VPS, said: “For some time we’ve been highlighting to owners of empty premises about the risks and costs to businesses from the rising trend of metal theft, commenting only a fortnight ago on the Home Office’s latest Crime against businesses survey, which reported 67,000 of these crimes took place last year. As a trade, scrap metal dealers themselves have often have been victims of these crimes, but the Bill has come about because some dealers are willing to pay cash for scrap metal offered to them by anyone. The Government amended the 1964 Act to prohibit cash payments to purchase scrap metal last October, but this new Bill goes much further by not only making it illegal to take cash but it also requires all sellers of metal to provide verifiable ID at point of sale and the onus is on the dealers to record and retain records of each purchase.”
Richard Ottoway, MP for Croydon South, first brought the private members bill to Parliament in June last year, and it has made fairly rapid progress since then. Without any further amendments this week, the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill is ready to be given the Royal Assent and become law, probably before Easter.
Mr Alderson said: “It is too early to say how much impact these new powers will have on metal theft. The prevalence of metal theft is closely tied to the price of metals on international markets, which is expected to rise until at least 2015. We are closely monitoring the number of thefts reported in the press and to date, this crime remains a significant issue. Given the cost of repairs to damage caused by metal thieves, it is a clear case of ‘prevention is better than the cure’.”
Pictured: Pub water damage from roof metal theft. Photo courtesy of VPS.
Trade body view
However Ian Hetherington, director general of a trade body, the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), said recently: “Banning cash alone will have a devastating effect on legitimate small traders whilst having little effect on the rate of metal theft, unless there is a robust regulatory framework to back it up. The Scrap Metal Dealers Bill, which is currently being considered by the House of Lords, aims to improve regulation and enforcement to rid the industry of illegal and unscrupulous dealers.
“If illegal sites are allowed to continue to trade, they will no doubt offer householders and businesses payment in cash too, therefore negating the purpose of the cash ban – to remove the rewards that make metal theft so enticing.
“The new law on cash payments applies to traditional scrap yards as well as mobile collectors – known as ‘itinerant collectors’ – who go from house to house collecting waste materials including scrap metal. We are confident that 99 per cent of itinerant collectors are now covered by the cash ban. However, as legislation currently stands, some metal traders – such as motor vehicle salvage operators – are exempt, which leaves an unfair playing field.
“It poses a serious challenge to small metal recyclers who rely on the trade of householders and businesses who sell scrap items every day and who will undoubtedly take their business to collectors who will continue to pay cash.”
About VPS
VPS employ over 2000 staff in 100 locations across the UK, the US, and mainland Europe. They specialise in securing, maintaining and managing vacant property across a wide range of customer and industry sectors.
Building services cover the vacant, unoccupied and void property lifecycle from an initial risk assessment, to security, including guarding, monitoring, clearing, cleaning, maintenance and preparation.
The current legislation is set out in the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964, which controls scrap metal dealers such as a requirement to register with the local authority. In January 2012, the Home Secretary Theresa May announced that the Government would be legislating to amend the 1964 Act to prohibit cash payments to purchase scrap metal and to significantly increase the fines for all relevant offences under the Act. These changes have been legislated for in sections 145 to 147 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
The Government subsequently produced a Hand-out Bill setting out proposals to repeal the 1964 Act altogether and replace it with a new regime to regulate the scrap metal trade. This has been taken up by Richard Ottaway, who has taken it through the House of Commons as the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill 2012-13. Key features of the Bill include giving local authorities the power to revoke and vary scrap metal dealer licences, requiring sellers of metal to provide personal identification at the point of sale, re-enacting and extending the cash payments ban legislated for in the 2012 Act, and giving the police and local authorities new powers to enter and inspect sites. Visit www.vpspecialists.co.uk.
