To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (i) for his assessment of rural crime levels; and (ii) to detail the efforts being made to prevent and prosecute offences.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has primary responsibility for preventing and detecting rural crime in Northern Ireland. Rural crime covers a wide range of crime including theft of machinery, burglaries of isolated farms and livestock crime.

The PSNI issues regular updates on agriculture and rural crime statistics and trends. The latest report is available at Agriculture and Rural Crime in Northern Ireland Monthly Update 31st March 2022 (psni.police.uk). The is shows that from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022 there were 196 agricultural crimes recorded in Northern Ireland, a fall of 95 on the previous 12 months and continuing the downward trend since 2010/11.

My Department’s Welfare and Enforcement Branch (WEB) liaises very closely with the PSNI and the Department of Justice (DOH) who have primary responsibility for preventing and detecting rural crime in Northern Ireland. WEB represents DAERA on a number of strategic and operational rural crime prevention related groups.

WEB is a founder member of the Rural Crime Partnership (RCP). Work on this partnership includes shared responsibility for delivery of the detailed RCP Rural Crime Action Plan which has strands covering Prevent & Protect; Partnership Working; and Enforcement.

Officials also work with the charity Crimestoppers to encourage reporting and ask the public to give information anonymously about rural crime across Northern Ireland.

In addition, my Department is a member of the operational cross-border multi-agency Rural Crime Taskforce which includes the PSNI, an Garda Síochána, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, Revenue & Customs (RoI) and the Food Standards Agency. This taskforce targets, investigates and prosecutes serious rural crime, often with a cross border dimension including livestock theft and smuggling.