Gwent Police and Caerphilly County Borough Council have been recognised for their work in reducing metal theft by half.
The Risca Neighbourhood Policing Team and the council’s Public Protection Team were commended in the recent Gwent Police awards.
The two organisations were presented with the Working in Partnership Award by the Chief Constable after developing the ‘No ID No Cash’ scheme – designed to reduce metal theft using legislation under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964.
The scheme, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, set out to register all metal collectors and provide them with photographic ID cards and the necessary recording log books free of charge.
The scheme also clearly set out to fully educate scrap metal dealers on their responsibilities to keep records of any receipts of metal or sales for two years.
By January 2012, 151 metal collectors were registered with the new scheme.
Officers from Gwent Police and Caerphilly County Borough Council also carried out regular ‘stop-check’ enforcement days, which involved stopping metal collectors at the roadside and checking their record keeping.
Chief Constable Carmel Napier said: “I’m delighted that metal theft is declining in the Caerphilly local policing area, as a result of this scheme and relentless policing operations. The scheme has attracted national attention and was looked at by the House of Commons transport select committee earlier this year. This project evidences how partnership working can achieve significant results.”
Cllr Dave Poole, the council’s cabinet member for community and leisure services, said: “The theft of metal can have a terrible impact upon our communities – here in Caerphilly county borough we have previously seen callous and thoughtless thefts of metal items including a children’s playground slide and a set of rugby posts.
“It is especially pleasing that this partnership approach to tackling this very important issue has been so successful, using a two-pronged approach of enforcement and education.”