§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many car thieves were apprehended during 1993–94 as a result of the tracker system;
(2) what estimate the Government have made of the impact of tracker systems on the number of cars stolen each year;
(3) how many stolen cars were recovered in 1993–94; and how many installed with the tracker system were recovered during the same period.
§ Mr. MacleanInformation on the number of arrests attributable to the tracker system is not collected centrally.
The Home Office has made no assessment of the impact of vehicle-tracking systems, of which tracker is but one, on the number of cars stolen. This will be a matter for the police service. I understand that it is still too early to make any such assessment.
The provisional figure for stolen vehicles recovered in England and Wales, excluding Dyfed-Powys, in calendar year 1993 is 350,862. I understand that, from September 1993, when the tracker system began operations, to the end of March 1994, 24 stolen vehicles fitted with tracker equipment were recovered.