Call for evidence outcome

Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act: call for evidence

From:
Home Office
Published
18 May 2023
Last updated
17 October 2025 — See all updates

Applies to England and Wales

This call for evidence has closed

Read the full outcome

Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act: summary of call for evidence responses and conclusion

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Detail of outcome

After analysing the evidence, the government will seek to implement forensic marking and database registration for new:

  • all-terrain vehicles
  • GPS units for agricultural and commercial use

Immobilisers will not be required for all-terrain vehicles because of concerns about type approval regulations.

Other large agricultural machinery will not be included in the regulations, but can be added in future if the act is effective in preventing rural theft.

Original call for evidence

Summary

We are consulting on whether to extend the bill's requirements to other types of large agricultural equipment and power tools.

This call for evidence ran from
to

Call for evidence description

The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill was introduced to prevent the theft of machinery and equipment used by the agricultural sector, in particular quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). The bill allows for the requirements to be extended to other equipment via secondary legislation.

The aim of this call for evidence is to consult on technical details for secondary legislation such as the specifications for immobilisers and forensic marking, as well as extending the bill’s requirements to other large agricultural equipment and power tools.

We are seeking views on a number of detailed matters associated with the potential extension to the scope of the bill. The responses we receive will inform proposals for secondary legislation.

This call for evidence aims to seek views on the following:

  • the definition of ATVs and agricultural equipment
  • a requirement for removable Global Positioning Service (GPS) systems to be forensically marked
  • the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) threshold of tools to be marked
  • specifications of immobilisers, and any implications for type approval
  • specifications for forensic markings
  • specifications for registration on databases

We are keen to hear from the following:

  • manufacturers
  • dealers
  • retailers
  • forensic marking companies
  • trade associations
  • tradespeople
  • law enforcement practitioners

Documents

Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill: Call for evidence (accessible version)

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Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill: Call for evidence

PDF, 289 KB, 10 pages

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Updates to this page

Published 18 May 2023
Last updated 17 October 2025 + show all updates

  1. Published the outcome of the call for evidence. The title of the page has been updated to reflect that the bill gained Royal Assent and is now the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act.

  2. First published.

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