Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of section 156 (2) of the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 on levels of attacks on workers undertaking public-facing roles.

Section 156 (2) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced a new statutory aggravating factor for certain assault offences where they are committed against a person providing a public service, performing a public duty, or providing services to the public. The Government introduced this to ensure that the public-facing nature of a victim's role would be considered, allowing the court to give a longer sentence within the statutory maximum for the offence.

The Ministry of Justice does not collect or publish data on the use of aggravating factors. Currently, there is no specific offence for an attack against a worker undertaking a public-facing role. As assault of a worker in a public-facing role is not a specific offence, we are unable to assess the trends relating to assaults on public-facing workers specifically.

The Government recognises the seriousness of assaults on workers undertaking public-facing roles and is clear that we must adopt a zero-tolerance approach to assault against those who serve the public. This is why in April 2024, the Government published ‘Fighting Retail Crime: more action’, within which the Government announced plans to introduce a new offence of assault against a shop worker, building on the operational policing commitments in the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan published in October 2023.