Retail Crime

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Chris Elmore

Thursday 11th April 2019 Westminster Hall

[David Hanson]

The vast majority of the convenience stores and local newsagents that have been referred to in the correspondence and representations I have had are one or two-person businesses, or businesses with very few staff. They also have a social function, because they keep an eye on their neighbours. If a person turns up for a bottle of milk every morning and does not on Thursday and Friday, there will be a trigger. The increase in violence and shoplifting is not acceptable, and it is driving a culture that I know the Minister abhors. The turnout in this Chamber shows that there is great concern about it. We must deal with it.

As I said earlier, that rise has happened against the backdrop of a reduction in police numbers and the response to retail theft. A key issue is that many lower-level shop theft incidents—I am not minimising their effect; I mean that they are not armed-robbery level—are fuelled by drug and alcohol addiction. The ACS said:

“Retailers perceive that 50% of the repeat offenders into shops are motivated by a drug or alcohol addiction”.

The three products targeted most by thieves in ACS stores are alcohol because it is alcohol, meat because it is expensive, and confectionary because it is the sort of thing that can be sold quickly on the streets to fuel drug or alcohol issues.

[Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing this debate. I know how much he cares about this issue. Many Members will know that, in a previous life, I was a trainee butcher in Tesco for many years. That is where I did all my butchery training. On low-level abuse, one of the things that is not highlighted enough is that this is not just about robbery or abuse; it is also about the customers who come into the store. I remember vividly when I worked on counters that if we did not have a particular type of stock, the customers would feel free to scream abuse at us. There was no response to that; we simply had to take it. I now know that lots of retailers are developing safety training to counter the abuse that staff face and training on how to deal with aggressive customers. It is a sign of the times that more and more staff face abuse because people are having a bad day and cannot get the goods that they want. That cannot be allowed to carry on, particularly given that those people provide key services and are there to do a job. I have friends who still work in the industry and feel that they cannot stay because of the abuse that they receive.

Exiting the EU: Businesses in Wales

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Chris Elmore

Wednesday 14th December 2016 Westminster Hall

[Chris Elmore]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. I am getting that constantly from businesses in my constituency. My hon. and learned Friend the Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer), the shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, has asked the Government 170 questions on how the UK will be shaped after we have left. To minimise that, I will ask the Government only three simple questions about the effect of exiting the EU on businesses in Wales. Will the Government guarantee to replace post-2020 EU funding that has not yet been underwritten by the Treasury? What steps will be taken to ensure that there is not a training shortage in Wales once we have left the EU? How will the Government involve business in Wales in their EU negotiations, and in representations made by the Secretary of State for International Trade?

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

May I add a fourth question to my hon. Friend’s helpful list of three? Will the Government come clean on whether deals have been done with companies such as Nissan in the north-east? In my constituency and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami), we have a large number of car manufacturers. For example, Vauxhall, although in England, and Toyota employ my constituents and those of my hon. Friend, and they depend on access to the single market.

[Chris Elmore]

I completely agree with my right hon. Friend. In addition, the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon), who could not attend today, includes the Ford plant that borders my constituency, and I would ask for similar guarantees on the automotive industry, because it has a direct effect in Ogmore.

I will be surprised if the Minister answers any of my questions, but I will conclude with a warning. Leaving the EU will inevitably have an effect on businesses in Wales, but the uncertainty that the Government have created is completely unnecessary. The Government need a plan for businesses in Wales, which they need to announce to the House for the attention of businesses in all our constituencies. The EU is embedded in businesses throughout Wales, and it contributes to funding, training and opportunity.