Freight: Crime
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the extent of the relationship between HGV parking availability and freight crime levels.
Answered by Keir Mather
The department recognises the importance of the relationship between HGV parking availability and freight crime levels. The government undertook a national lorry parking survey in 2022 which identified secure parking as a priority for drivers. This informed the design of the Lorry Parking and Driver Welfare Match Funding Grant Scheme (MFGS).
The department, alongside industry partners, is delivering up to £35.7 million in joint investment via the MFGS to enhance truck stops across England, supporting HGV drivers and improving working conditions. This investment is complemented by up to £30 million from National Highways and industry, targeting upgrades to lorry parking facilities along strategic road networks.
The scheme has helped to fund security investments including CCTV, fencing, lighting, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems and new barriers as well as investment in facilities and parking spaces at lorry parks in 30 counties across England.
A new National Lorry Parking Survey is currently underway to provide up to date evidence on the availability, security and quality of lorry parking in England and by region and will be published in the Autumn.
Crime recording is a matter for the Home Office. Police‑recorded crime data does not separately identify freight crime or its location; therefore, no assessment can be done on the number of incidents at secure lorry parks or analysis of trends over time.
However, the Home Office has conducted a pilot initiative within a small number of police forces, which trialled the use of a hashtag to identify freight-related offences within their crime reporting systems. This approach aimed to improve visibility and tracking of freight crime. The pilot has now finished and data from the forces who participated in the pilot has been requested and we are awaiting their manual return. After the data has been received, an assessment will be made of the effectiveness, and further steps will be considered at that stage along with further discussions with stakeholders as appropriate.
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