Sussex farming leader welcomes rural crime funding but highlights gaps in government plans

The Home Office announced that the funding for the National Rural Crime Unit and National Wildlife Crime Unit will be used to tackle crimes including farm equipment theft, livestock theft and hare coursing.

This comes after persistent lobbying from the NFU.

NFU West Sussex Chair Andrew Strong, who farms near Haywards Heath, said: “Rural crime is a major issue for farmers in Sussex and more resources to tackle it are urgently needed, so it is good to hear of this funding.

“But all major areas of rural crime need to be addressed, with many communities under siege from criminal gangs, and there are gaps in the government’s plans.

“NFU Mutual’s rural crime report shows there has been a 23% rise in farm animals being killed or seriously injured in dog attacks in the South East, which goes against the national trend.

“The NFU is still waiting for an update on the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill which aims to give police more powers to tackle this.”

Recent Defra statistics show that fly-tipping incidents rose, nationally, by 6% from 1.08 million in 2022/23 to 1.15 million in 2023/24.

Mr Strong said: “I constantly hear of farmers dealing with fly-tipping, often on an industrial scale, with the perpetrators frequently unpunished and undeterred.

“Fly-tipping is a serious crime which costs the farming industry tens of millions of pounds a year in clear-up costs, damages the environment and blights the countryside. With local authorities responsible for clearing up fly-tips on public land, this crime also come at a heavy cost to taxpayers.

“The government has spoken of plans to address this, but we need to see these plans urgently brought into use.”

The government said the funding will be used to increase collaboration across police forces and harness the latest technology and data to target the serious organised crime groups.

New measures in the government's Crime and Policing Bill will also see statutory guidance issued to local authorities, enabling them to make full use of their fly-tipping enforcement powers.

The NFU is working closely with Sussex Police and Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne to tackle rural crime.

Funding from the NFU and PCC has provided 1,000 specialist marking kits as part of a crackdown on equipment theft in East Sussex and West Sussex.

Sussex Police are looking to use NFU members’ farms as bases for their officers using drones to identify criminal activity in the countryside.

Mr Strong said: “We have really positive working relationships with Sussex Police and our PCC and, with the right resources and support in place from the government, we can make a real impact.”