The number of recorded thefts of building materials from 2022 to 2024

22 April 2025

Our Ref: FOI2025/02540                                                                        

REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 Ref No: FOI2025/02540     

I write in connection with your request for information received on 21 March.  I note you seek access to the following information:

Please treat this as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I am requesting data held by your police force on thefts specifically relating to building materials stolen from vans.

Request

Please provide the following information:

The number of recorded thefts involving building materials stolen being stolen for each of the last 3 calendar years (2022–2024), broken down by year.

If available, please also include:

The type or description of materials stolen (e.g. timber, cement, bricks, plasterboard, etc.)

The location of where the materials were stolen from such as vans, construction sites, driveways etc.

The number of arrests and/or charges made in connection with these incidents.

Response

I am required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (The Act) to handle all requests in a manner that is blind to the identity of the requestor. Any information released in response to a request is regarded as being published and therefore, in the public domain without caveat.

Following enquiries within the Hertfordshire Constabulary please see our response below.

Reported Building/Construction Material Thefts                               

Date - 01/01/22 - 31/12/24                               

Please Note - The Data extracted can come back with Multiple Items stolen under one crime number. Therefore, the data below is theft of individual items and not for each crime offence.

While we have provided data held by our organisation, the quality and completeness of this data may be affected by the way it has been recorded or maintained. In some cases, data may be incomplete, inaccurately recorded, or not consistently linked across systems. While this data is generally available and sufficient for data-today operational use it is not always stored in a format that allows for easy or large-scale extraction.

Additionally, the last table shows the total individuals that have been Arreste

The Number of Thefts involving Building/Construction Materials                              

The Number of Thefts from Vans Involving Building/Construction Materials

Property Type & Premises Type Breakdown - Not including Theft from a Van             

Theft from a Van - Property Type & Premises Type Breakdown                                        

Building/Construction Material Theft - Arrests   

The numerical data presented in this response is an un-audited snapshot of un-published data sourced from "live" systems and is subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter please do not hesitate to contact me quoting the above reference number.

Yours sincerely
Information Rights

Hertfordshire Constabulary provides you the right to request an independent review of this response under its review procedure. If you require such a review, you must notify us within two months from the date of this letter. After lodging a complaint with Hertfordshire Constabulary if you are still dissatisfied with the decision, you may make an application to the Information Commissioner. For information on how to make a complaint please visit their website or contact them on 0303 123 1113.