17/07/2026 – Home Office disclosure
Vehicle theft methods involving manufacturer-issued keys
Document 1
Relevant excerpt from ‘Vehicle Crime Paper’ document (created October 2025)
What is the problem we are trying to solve?
Vehicle theft has evolved from being largely opportunistic and / or driven by joy riding to a situation where much of it is organised crime. Vehicles are stolen mainly to order, to be sold, stripped for parts, or used in further crimes, often violent, for example shop robberies.
The crime has evolved with technology. Keyless entry and signal manipulation have made thefts from private driveways more common, and some burglaries now target car keys, sometimes with violence.
The predominant method to steal vehicles is using electronic devices to remotely unlock and start the vehicle.
A number of key assumptions inform current policy thinking around vehicle theft:
- Technological exploitation:
Criminals increasingly use advanced tools and techniques – such as signal manipulation and CAN bus attacks – to bypass modern vehicle security systems. The most common method used in the latest CSEW estimates was through manipulating the signal from a remote-locking device (58%).
Cooperation between police and vehicle manufacturers in relation to vehicle theft
Document 2:
Relevant excerpt from ‘DDJ visit to JLR – briefing’ (created July 2025)
Policing bodies that deal with vehicle crime
- The National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) is a national policing unit funded by industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers, to provide dedicated specialist intelligence and enforcement on vehicle crime. The Home Office does not provide funding for NaVCIS.
- NaVICS undertakes enforcement action at ports which are intelligence-led operations to tackle vehicle crime. NaVCIS officers are based at Southampton, Felixstowe and Tilbury.
- The National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership is an industry-funded partnership body to provide focus and drive further work in preventing vehicle crime. This is providing dedicated focused resource to help the police in tackling vehicle crime.
- The National Vehicle Crime Working Group was established by ACC Jenny Sims. Through this group, ACC Sims and the other delegates (including Home Office officials) formed the Vehicle Crime Action Plan, including actions to work with motor industry representatives to consider crime prevention measures that can be taken to prevent thefts.
Document 3:
Relevant excerpts from ‘Vehicle Theft Oversight Doc’ (created November 2025)
Roles & Responsibilities
The National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership (NVCRP)
The NVCRP began work in November 2024. This industry-funded initiative was coordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) alongside the Safer Business Network, aiming to address rising vehicle theft rates across the UK. Key partners include automotive manufacturers, law enforcement agencies, insurers, and government bodies
such as the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics, alongside the NPCC and Safer Business Network.
The partnership’s terms of reference are centred on:
- Improving Security Standards: Enhancing vehicle security by working directly with manufacturers to strengthen anti-theft measures;
- Public Awareness and Prevention: Promoting crime prevention methods, increasing public confidence, and engaging with online marketplaces to reduce sales of theft enabling devices;
- Strategic Operations: redacted
- Information Sharing: Facilitating a coordinated approach through data sharing among law enforcement, insurers, and vehicle manufacturers to address emerging threats;
- Targeted Enforcement: redacted
This partnership is also exploring innovative technology, from advanced analytics to predictive tools, aimed at identifying patterns and preventing vehicle crimes before they occur.
National Police Chiefs’ Council
The NPCC Vehicle Crime portfolio sits under the NPCC Serious Organised Acquisitive Crime Portfolio and brings together police, vehicle manufacturers, and relevant Government Departments. Its working group focuses on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles, including training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles. It sets direction through:
- Coordination – by joining up the operational response to critical national policing issues to deliver policing today and shape the future.
- Collaboration – by working in partnership as part of the whole policing system and beyond to improve public safety.
- Communication – by sharing the collective expertise, views and action of UK police chiefs.
The response (Domestic)
Partnership
The National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership has been established to reduce vehicle crime nationally, bringing together key partners including automotive manufacturers, law enforcement agencies, insurers, and government bodies such as the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics, alongside the NPCC and Safer Business Network.
Any consideration of regulation, oversight, or audit requirements relating to vehicle key issuance
Searches conducted for this question returned no information in scope of the request
Any data or analysis relating to vehicle theft attributed to key use versus “keyless” methods
Document 4:
Relevant excerpt from ‘Vehicle Crime Legislation Q&A (created April 2025)
Key Statistics/Facts
- The Metropolitan Police Service estimates that in London, electronic devices are used in approximately 60% of vehicle theft.
- According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, from April 2023 to March 2024, an offender manipulated signal from remote locking device was used in 58% of vehicle thefts (CSEW).
- For theft of vehicles, the most common method of entry has changed over time. A decade ago (year ending March 2014 CSEW) 46% of incidents involved the use of a key or electric fob but this has fallen to 18% in the latest year’s survey. The most common method used in the latest CSEW estimates was through manipulating the
signal from a remote-locking device (58%).
Document 5: Relevant excerpt from ‘Vehicle Crime Summer 2025’ document (created June 2025)
Technology used to steal vehicles
Issue
For theft of vehicles, the most common method of entry has changed over time. A decade ago (year ending March 2014 CSEW) 46% of incidents involved the use of a key or electric fob but this has fallen to 18% in the latest year’s survey. The most common method used in the latest CSEW estimates was through manipulating the signal from a remote-locking device (58%). This method has become much more common over the past 5 years (increasing from only 13% in year ending March 2019).