Government arm initiates early review of Scrap Metal Dealers Act

By Carolina Curiel

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Home Office under the UK government has launched a review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.

According to the government department, the Section 18 of the bill places the duty on the Secretary of State to review the Act within five years of coming into force. This makes a review due only in 2018. However, the Home Office has ratified the request by the British Metal Recycling Association (BMRA) to conduct the review ahead of the due date.

As part of the review, the Home Office will circulate a consultation document to industry participants, law enforcement agencies and other related parties to obtain their views on how successful the Act has been and whether it is appropriate to retain the Act. The responses have to be submitted before end of January 2017.

Robert Fell, Chief Executive, BMRA stated that the association will get in touch with its members to gather information about the limitations faced by them. It will work with its partners to generate detailed evidence to support its submission to the government department. It called upon the government to announce immediate measures to further strengthen the Act and provide adequate funding to police department to ensure proper and systematic implementation of the Act.

The recent statistics released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate dramatic decline in metal theft offences recorded by the police. As per figures, the 42 police forces across the country recorded 16,155 metal theft offences during the year ending March 2016, significantly lower by 38% when matched with the previous year. Infrastructure-related metal theft offences declined by 36%, whereas the non-infrastructure-related metal thefts were down by 40%. Also, all regions recorded year-on-year decreases in rates of metal theft offences. Since 2012, reports of metal theft have dropped consistently year-on-year across the country

The government claimed that the legislation banning cash payments for scrap metals was the primary reason for the sharp plunge in metal thefts. On the other hand, metal recyclers noted that the politicians could not claim full credit of the sharp fall in metal theft incidents. According to BMRA, historically low prices of scrap materials also contributed. In addition, the wide media coverage has made it difficult for thieves to dispose of their stolen scrap metal. These two factors have contributed significantly to the drop in rates, BMRA noted.

The new Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 repeals the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 and Part 1 of Vehicles (Crime) Act 2001 and brings forward a revised regulatory regime for the scrap metal dealing and vehicle dismantling industries. The Act maintains local authorities as the principal regulator of these industries. It gives local authorities the power to better regulate these industries by providing a power to refuse to grant a licence and revoke licences if the dealer is considered 'unsuitable’. The Act requires all individuals and businesses to complete an enhanced application process to obtain a scrap metal dealer license. Also, it requires all sellers of metal to provide personal; identification at the point of sale. In addition, the law makes it an offence to deal with cash during scrap metal transactions. The intent of the Act is to prevent metal theft that can then be sold on for cash.