Bill tabled aimed at tackling serious organised freight crime

A Bill has been tabled in Parliament by Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, Rachel Taylor, calling for action to tackle organised freight crime. 

The Bill forms part of Taylor’s campaign to tackle an epidemic of theft impacting the freight and logistics industry. 

The Bill is a Ten-Minute Rule Bill, a type of Bill used by backbench MPs to bring attention to issues of importance to them. 

Taylor’s Bill calls on the Government to introduce a specific crime code for freight crime, something the police and the freight industry say would make a huge difference in helping them tackle the issue. 

Without a specific crime code, large-scale thefts of freight goods are often categorised in the same way as thefts from personal vehicles, hindering the ability of the police to track and ultimately catch freight criminals.

Recent figures from the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Police Service (NaVCIS) suggest that between 2023 and 2024 the total estimated value of goods stolen by freight criminals increased by 63%, to more than £110 million.  

However, without a dedicated crime code the true extent of the problem remains difficult to quantify.

Taylor said the huge increase in freight crime showed that at present criminals saw targeting the freight sector as a low risk, high reward crime. 

Far from the perception of freight crime as being low level and opportunistic, she said, it was actually being perpetrated by organised criminal gangs with a high level of skill and expertise. 

She said: “From the goods in our shopping baskets to the components delivered to our factories, the freight and logistics sector underpins our entire economy.

“Yet the industry is under attack from organised thieves who are stealing tens of millions of pounds worth of goods every year, with consumers and businesses left to pick up the bill.”

She added: “Since I launched my campaign for tougher action on freight crime last year, the industry and the police have told me how a simple change to the way freight crime is recorded could make all the difference in putting these criminal gangs behind bars where they belong.

“That’s why I’m delighted to be tabling my Ten Minute Rule Bill on freight crime this week, to send the message that with the right action from government time could soon be up for these serious organised criminals.”

Richard Smith, RHA managing director, says freight crime is becoming more serious, more organised, and more intelligence led. 

“This is bad news for the industry and bad news for consumers,” he added. “We’ll only know the true scale of the issue once the police have a specific crime code, and we welcome and support the steps that Rachel Taylor MP is taking to deliver on this.”

Dave Hands, managing director of logistics provider LTS Global Solutions, which is located in Rachel Taylor’s North Warwickshire and Bedworth constituency, claims the issue is “fast turning into a crisis”. 

“Hauliers up and down the country, including ourselves, are all falling victim of its destructive impact. If freight crime continues at its current rate, hauliers will be the ones paying the price,” he said.   

“There are reports that freight crime could cost the UK logistics industry £6.1 billion by 2049, and with inflation that could rise to nearly £8bn, which is just frightening. 

“Recent years have shown the massive pressure the haulage industry is under, with over 500 businesses going bust in just 12 months. The threat of these incidents just adds to that pressure.” 

He concluded: “We warmly welcome Rachel Taylor’s Ten-Minute Rule Bill on freight crime being tabled in Parliament. 

“Her hard stance on this matter has shone a spotlight on how vulnerable the industry is to such incidents and how lenient penalties have created an environment where organised criminals operate with impunity. We hope that ends with her new Bill.”

Taylor chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Freight and Logistics. The APPG recently published a report entitled Securing Our Supply Chains, which made recommendations on the how the Government can crack down on freight crime and secure supply chains.