HC Deb 09 July 1964 vol 698 cc603-4
20. Mr. A. Henderson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what official advice has been given to banks, commercial and industrial concerns, which transport money and other valuables by road, with a view to counter-acting robbery with violence and the seizure of loaded vehicles.

Mr. Brooke

It is primarily the responsibility of the owner to protect the contents of vehicles against theft, but the police are very willing to give advice on how to minimise the risks of theft, and there is increasingly good co-operation in this matter between the police and firms transporting valuables. The new Police Research and Planning Branch at the Home Office is paying special attention to this important subject.

Mr. Henderson

Is not crime becoming a highly organised and lucrative business, and would not the Home Secretary appeal to the banks and other business concerns affected by this problem with a view to securing their cooperation with the police authorities to plan and organise security arrangements which will help to defeat the modern, mobile criminal?

Mr. Brooke

There is far too much of this kind of crime. The Road Haul- age Committee has a vehicles security committee with which the police work closely, and I attach a great deal of importance to the work that my new Police Research and Planning Branch is doing. When it reports, I think that we shall have to give consideration to the best means of conveying its suggestions to all concerned, whether through chief constables or otherwise.

Mr. Henderson

Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is becoming necessary to organise and plan counter-operations if we are to defeat these modern mobile criminals?

Mr. Brooke

That is one of the reasons why I have taken the initiative of setting up a Police Research and Planning Branch in the Home Office for the first time.