Metal theft (FOI ref: 1042/26)

Original request, received 06 May 2026:

The total number of crimes involving the theft of metal (including scrap metal) for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025.

The total value of stolen metal for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025.

The total number of crimes involving the theft of each of the following types of metal (steel, iron, copper, brass, aluminium) for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025.

I would like you to provide the information in the following format:

Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet sent via email

This was not possible within the cost limit, and we proposed the following search on 22 May 2026:

We can offer to search for:

• The total number of crimes involving the theft of metal (including scrap metal) for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025.
• The total number of crimes involving the theft of each of the following types of metal (steel, iron, copper, brass, aluminium) for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025.

Please note that any located information might be subject to the application of exemptions under the Act.

Response

1. The total number of crimes involving the theft of metal (including scrap metal) for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025.

2. The total number of crimes involving the theft of each of the following types of metal (steel, iron, copper, brass, aluminium) for each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025.

For Question 2, data has been obtained by searching Theft offences in conjunction with the property description field, and all relevant results for metal have been included. It does not completely align with the total provided for Q1 – the property description field is a free text field, and is not mandatory, and multiple items can be entered for one record. Therefore, the number of results provided here may not match the number of records.

Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has been extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request may be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are considered when interpreting the data.

The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of data which has relevance to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be taken into account when those data are used.

If you decide to write an article / use the enclosed data we would ask you to take into consideration the factors highlighted in this document so as to not mislead members of the public or official bodies, or misrepresent the relevance of the whole or any part of this disclosed material.