FOI 9966
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: HRC0009966/26
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 27th May 2026. Please find below the response to your request:
I would like to request the following information relating to fuel theft offences recorded by your force.
Please provide, for each of the last five complete calendar years (or financial years, if this is how your force records the data):
- The total number of reported fuel theft offences recorded by the force.
- The estimated total value of fuel reported stolen.
- The number of those cases in which:
- a suspect was identified;
- a suspect was charged or summonsed;
- no suspect was identified.
- Where available, the average value of fuel stolen per incident.
Reply
Your request for information has been considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”), and I am not obliged to provide the information requested.
S.12(1) of the Act states that a public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”. For police forces in England and Wales, the "appropriate limit" is £450 or 18 hours of work as set by the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
The information you have requested is not available in a readily retrievable format in respect of Question 2 and 4: The estimated total value of fuel reported stolen / the average value of fuel stolen per incident. There are over 3,700 records. In order to ascertain whether the information you have requested is held would take in excess of 18 hours as each record would have to be checked individually.
In accordance with s.17(5) of the Act, this acts as a Refusal Notice.
Under s.16 of the Act I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to your request.
Unfortunately, due to the volume of records that would need to be reviewed I am unable to identify information that could be supplied within the fees limit for this part of your request.
However, I provide the information requested for the remaining questions as this was retrieved during our initial research. This should not be taken as a precedent that additional information would be supplied outside of the time/fees legislation for any subsequent requests.
Caveat: There is no offence of “fuel theft” and the offence of Making Off Without Payment does not just refer to fuel but also includes non-payment for other services (ie. garage repairs, taxis, food outlets and beauticians/hairdressers). As such, searches were completed for those offences using keywords in the incident summary (fuel, petrol, diesel, unleaded, service station etc), premises name and address fields, to include only fuel theft offences.
- The total number of reported fuel theft offences recorded by the force.
|
Calendar Year |
Number of fuel theft (MOWP) offences |
|
2021 |
755 |
|
2022 |
1,041 |
|
2023 |
742 |
|
2024 |
707 |
|
2025 |
482 |
|
Grand Total |
3,727 |
- The number of those cases in which:
- a suspect was identified;
- a suspect was charged or summonsed;
|
Police Outcomes (suspect identified) |
Calendar Year |
Grand Total |
||||
|
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
||
|
Type 1 - Charged/Summonsed/Postal Requisition |
4 |
16 |
4 |
14 |
8 |
46 |
|
Type 1A - Charged/Summons - alternate offence. Offender has been charged under the alternate offence rule. |
1 |
1 |
||||
|
Type 3 - Caution Adult |
1 |
1 |
||||
|
Type 4 - TIC - Taken into Consideration |
1 |
1 |
||||
|
Type 8 - Community resolution (Crime) |
3 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
21 |
|
Type 15 - Named Suspect Identified: Victim Supports Police Action But Evidential Difficulties Prevent Further Action |
98 |
129 |
184 |
148 |
77 |
636 |
|
Type 16 - Named Suspect Identified: Evidential Difficulties Prevent Further Action: Victim Does Not Support (Or Has Withdrawn Support From) Police Action |
187 |
186 |
97 |
74 |
65 |
609 |
|
Type 17 - Prosecution Time Limit Expired: Suspect Identified But Prosecution Time Limit Has Expired |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
||
|
Type 20 - Further action resulting from the crime report will be undertaken by another body or agency subject to the victim (or person acting on their behalf) being made aware of the act to be taken |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|||
|
Type 21 - Further investigation resulting from crime report which could provide evidence sufficient to support formal action against the suspect is not in the public interest - police decision. |
1 |
1 |
||||
|
Pending/under investigation |
1 |
4 |
5 |
|||
|
Grand Total |
295 |
333 |
290 |
243 |
167 |
1,328 |
- no suspect was identified.
|
Police Outcomes (no suspect identified) |
Calendar Year |
Grand Total |
||||
|
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
||
|
Type 14 - Evidential Difficulties Victim Based- Suspect Not Identified: Crime Confirmed But The Victim Either Declines Or Unable To Support Further Police Investigation To Identify The Offender |
144 |
149 |
33 |
37 |
79 |
442 |
|
Type 18 - Investigation Complete; No Suspect Identified. Crime Investigated As Far As Reasonably Possible-Case Closed Pending Further Investigative Opportunities Becoming Available |
316 |
559 |
419 |
427 |
236 |
1,957 |
|
Grand Total |
460 |
708 |
452 |
464 |
315 |
2,399 |