Written question asked by Lord Austin of Dudley (Labour) on Friday, 13 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 17 April 2012. It was answered by James Brokenshire (Conservative) on Thursday, 19 April 2012 on behalf of the Home Office.

Theft: Metals

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons are for exempting itinerant collectors from a ban on cash payments for scrap metal.

Answer: The exemption will only be for those itinerant collectors who have firstly registered with their local authority as a scrap metal business under Section l and then applied for and been granted an order under Section 3(1) of the 1964 Scrap Metal Dealers Act. The Section 3(1) order was intended to spare very small local businesses from some of the record-keeping requirements that the Act places on larger dealers, and can be granted by the local authority only in consultation with the chief police officer. As enforcement of the new offence of cash payment will be reliant on those record-keeping requirements, including the additional requirement inserted by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, it is appropriate that those who are currently exempt from those requirements are also exempt from the new offence. However, by definition these itinerant collectors have no capacity to process scrap metal, can only collect from domestic dwellings and will need to sell whatever they collect to a larger dealer who is subject to the new offence.We will work with the Local Government Association and Association of Chief Police Officers on advice for local authorities and police forces on enforcement of the requirements of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act and the criteria for issuing any new Section 3(1) orders.

Secondary information