Government-backed bill to overhaul scrap laws

Metal recyclers could be subject to tougher licensing terms and Police given greater powers to inspect unlicensed scrap-yards, after MP Richard Ottaway won consent to propose fundamental changes to existing scrap laws in Parliament on Wednesday (June 20).

Mr Ottaways proposals will come with government support, having been offered to the Croydon MP as a Hand-out Bill drafted by the Home Office after the government was unable to find time for the overhaul of the scrap trade in its legislative programme.

And, Home Office Minister Lord Henley, who has overseen the governments legal changes to the scrap trade to-date, has publicly endorsed the Bill, which would overhaul the existing 1964 Scrap Metal Dealers Act.

Lord Henley said: We are working closely with Richard Ottaway to ensure the bill will deliver a stronger and more effective licensing regime for the scrap metal industry, replacing the outdated Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964.

Proposals

Mr Ottaway will put forward a detailed overview of the proposed amendments to 1964 Act, when the Bill is given its second reading in Parliament on July 13.

Despite Bills put forward by individual MPs facing a tough task finding their way into the statute book, government-backing could ease the passage of the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill into law, and it already has cross-party support, including from Labour MP Graham Jones, whose own proposals to revamp scrap laws failed in Parliament in January.

Mr Ottaway said: I am delighted to be introducing my Private Members Bill to re-regulate the scrap metal industry.

I hope my bill will provide the strong legislative framework so desperately needed to empower our local councils and police forces in their fight against offenders who willfully plunder this country of metal, whilst also strengthening and supporting legitimate scrap metal dealers.

Licence

The plans drawn up under the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill are expected to require scrap traders to pay to apply for a license to trade in recovered metal from their local authority, while also signing up to a national register that would be administered by the Environment Agency, licenses would be reviewed every three years.

The Bill is also likely to introduce additional requirements for the compulsory provision of photo identification at the point of sale for scrap metal, following successful trials of a similar system in the North East of England under Operation Tornado, lead by British Transport Police.

It is also believed that plans are being drawn up that would give the Police additional powers of entry to inspect unlicensed scrap metal yards.

The new proposals would build upon measures already approved by the government under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act which received royal assent in May, banning the use of cash across the scrap trade and introducing tougher sentences for those found to be dealing scrap metal illegally.

BMRA

Ian Hetherington, director general of the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) welcomed the Bill, describing it as a fundamental overhaul of the scrap metal trade.

He said: The BMRA remains highly supportive of proposed Scrap Metal Dealers Act reform and welcomes the opportunity to input into the formulation of MP Richard Ottaways proposed Private Members Bill.

In the proposed system, local authorities will carry responsibility for licensing metal recycling sites BMRA does continue to have concerns about the consistency and quality of information, licencing conditions and licencing fees from local authorities and so is working to ensure that the licensing system is linked to a transparent national register of scrap metal merchants available to householders and businesses selling scrap metal. This could best be maintained by the EA in parallel with the existing permitting system.

Mr Hetherington also urged the government to ensure that any new legislation is brought in as quickly as possible, to support the changes in legislation brought about under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, which are expected to come into effect in the autumn.

LGA

Local authorities also welcomed the proposed change in legislation. Cllr Mehboob Khan, chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: Government missed an opportunity by not including a change in legislation in the recent Queen’s Speech. Local authorities are firmly behind Richard Ottaway’s decision to take a private member’s bill through Parliament to introduce a tougher licensing regime for scrap metal dealers. It is vital that local authorities get stronger powers to make it more difficult for thieves to dispose of stolen metal.

Councils want to see an annually-renewable licence for scrap metal dealers, which could be reviewed at the instigation of the police or licensing authority and, if necessary, revoked. This would make it much less likely that stolen metal will find its ways into scrapyards.