Rural crime

A Westminster Hall debate on rural crime is scheduled for Thursday 27 February 2025, opened by Ben Maguire MP.

This debate pack contains background information on the prevalence and cost of rural crime and the police and government response to it. It also includes relevant Parliamentary and media material which Members might find useful in preparation for this debate.

What is rural crime?

Rural crime is not defined by the government or in legislation. It generally relates to crime that is particularly prevalent in rural areas, such as:

• theft of farm equipment
• livestock theft
• wildlife offences (including hare coursing)
• fly tipping
• county lines

The debate pack provides more information on these offences.

How prevelant is rural crime?

Constituency and police force area statistics for rural crime are not routinely published. However, there are several sources of national data on rural crime available:

• The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra’s) Communities and Households Statistics for Rural England Communities and Households Statistics for Rural England (published September 2024) and accompanying data tables show the differences in rural and urban crime rates in England.

• The Rural Crime Report 2024 from the rural insurance provider the National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society (NFU Mutual), looks at trends in, and the cost of, rural theft in the UK in 2023.

• The Countryside Alliance’s annual Rural Crime Survey provides estimates of the concerns of rural communities and covers the UK: Survey results for 2023 (PDF).

How do police respond to rural crime?

It is an operational decision for chief officers to decide how best to respond to rural crime in their areas. Most police forces have a dedicated rural crime team, whilst specialist units and strategies have been introduced to help improve the police’s response to rural crime. This includes:

• The UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, which works to prevent and detect wildlife crime across the UK by providing “intelligence and direct assistance to individual police forces and other UK law enforcement agencies, including providing specialist support that allows warranted Officers to investigate wildlife crime.”

• The National Police Chief’s Council’s (NPCC) National Rural Crime Unit, which provides specialist operational support and training for forces, as well as coordination, better information sharing and helping to develop strategies to better protect farmers from crime.

• The NPCC’s Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025, which provides a framework for the police and its partners in England and Wales to work together to tackle the “most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities.”

In Scotland, Police Scotland works with the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime and Rural Watch Scotland to address rural crime.

In Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland works with the Rural Crime Partnership and runs a Farm Watch scheme, which aims to “promote vigilance and improve communication, within rural and farming communities and between rural communities and the police service.”

Police forces covering rural areas face particular challenges. According to a report by the Country Land and Business Association, police response times are slower in rural areas and police forces “lack basic kit” such as “4x4 vehicles, rural drone surveillance kits, high-powered torches and thermal spotters to help detect criminals in the dark” due to budgetary constraints.

Will there be a government rural crime strategy?

In April 2024, the then Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, announced that a Labour government would introduce “the first ever government-backed rural crime strategy” to “stamp out crime and disorder in our countryside communities.” In July 2024, the Minister for Farming stated: "we’re absolutely committed to the first ever cross-government rural crime strategy. Of course, this will cover agricultural theft, fly-tipping and livestock worrying."

In October 2024, the Environment Secretary provided further confirmation that the government would introduce a rural crime strategy, though the government has not confirmed when the strategy will be published.