Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional resources they have provided to police forces to combat the increase in organised crime in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office ensures that the police have the resources they need. Ultimately, it is for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), and Mayors with PCC functions, to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience. This includes how to allocate resources to reduce levels of organised crime.
Chief Constables, PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions have provided significant resource to the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network by allocating 725 extra officers to ROCUs between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. Those officers are tackling the range of SOC threats, helping to reduce crime and keep communities safe.
The Government also recognises that there can be particular challenges in responding to rural crime and welcomed the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in September 2022.
Additionally, the Home Office provided £200,000 for the National Rural Crime Unit to tackle rural crime including the theft of farming or construction machinery, livestock theft, rural fly tipping, rural fuel theft and equine crime.
The Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). It has recently published a new SOC strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the College of Policing about updating their THRIVE guidance with regard to reporting and combating rural crime.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Guidelines on the use of THRIVE are published by the College of Policing here: https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/vulnerability-related-risks/introduction-vulnerability-related-risk.
The Home Office has not had conversations recently with College of Policing about updating their THRIVE guidance with regard to reporting and combating rural crime.
We are committed to driving down rural crime and the Home Office continues to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit to help ensure an effective police response to rural crime.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with police forces in England and Wales about their response to shoplifting, in the light of the Retail Crime Action Plan.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, as well as the loss to the economy. The Government has been clear we expect a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime and shoplifting.
It’s difficult to produce reliable estimates of the cost of shoplifting. Many incidents do not come to the attention of the police, so data on the number of shoplifting crimes recorded by them only provide a partial picture. While official statistics from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) provide reliable estimates of the prevalence and frequency of shoplifting, the CVS no longer collects data the number of shoplifting offences or the overall cost of these crimes. When the CVS has collected this information in the past, retailers found it difficult to recall precise numbers of crimes they experienced, and the associated costs. As a result, these estimates we judged to be insufficiently reliable.
Home Office ministers have not met Retail Against Crime. The National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, the Rt Hon Chris Philp, co-chairs alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and Government departments.
At this forum, the Retail Crime Action Plan is a standing agenda item. At the last NRCSG, policing colleagues updated me on the implementation of the plan. Statistics published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show early signs of progress. A dip-sample of data from 31 police forces of over 1,500 crimes show police attended 60% of incidents reported by retailers where violence had been used, with 16% of forces sampled reporting 100% attendance to this type of incident.
The Government is supporting Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.
The Home Office will continue to work with members of the NRCSG, including policing and retailers to tackle shoplifting, including organised, as well as other crime experienced within retail settings through our wider work.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the loss to the UK economy because of shoplifting for each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, as well as the loss to the economy. The Government has been clear we expect a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime and shoplifting.
It’s difficult to produce reliable estimates of the cost of shoplifting. Many incidents do not come to the attention of the police, so data on the number of shoplifting crimes recorded by them only provide a partial picture. While official statistics from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) provide reliable estimates of the prevalence and frequency of shoplifting, the CVS no longer collects data the number of shoplifting offences or the overall cost of these crimes. When the CVS has collected this information in the past, retailers found it difficult to recall precise numbers of crimes they experienced, and the associated costs. As a result, these estimates we judged to be insufficiently reliable.
Home Office ministers have not met Retail Against Crime. The National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, the Rt Hon Chris Philp, co-chairs alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and Government departments.
At this forum, the Retail Crime Action Plan is a standing agenda item. At the last NRCSG, policing colleagues updated me on the implementation of the plan. Statistics published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show early signs of progress. A dip-sample of data from 31 police forces of over 1,500 crimes show police attended 60% of incidents reported by retailers where violence had been used, with 16% of forces sampled reporting 100% attendance to this type of incident.
The Government is supporting Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.
The Home Office will continue to work with members of the NRCSG, including policing and retailers to tackle shoplifting, including organised, as well as other crime experienced within retail settings through our wider work.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the Sentencing Code with regard to shoplifting.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We know there has been a worrying rise in shoplifting, which we need to address.
Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in the 12 months to September 2023. However, the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 34%, showing that Police are heeding the message.
The publication of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Retail Crime Action Plan, published in October 2023, includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel.
Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database as standard using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
The plan also includes guidance for retailers on what response they can expect from their local police, as well as how retailers can assist the police by providing evidence to help ensure cases are followed-up.
October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information sharing platform and training for retailers.
The Sentencing Code is a consolidation of existing sentencing procedure law. It brings together over 50 pieces of primary legislation relating to sentencing procedure into one single piece of legislation, in the Sentencing Act 2020. It includes general provisions relating to sentencing procedure, the different types of sentences available to the courts, and certain behaviour orders that can be imposed in addition to a sentence. Since the Sentencing Act came into force, it has been amended following changes to the law relating to sentencing procedure. The Code is not designed, however, to apply to specific offences.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Retailers Against Crime on the rise in organised shoplifting.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, as well as the loss to the economy. The Government has been clear we expect a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime and shoplifting.
It’s difficult to produce reliable estimates of the cost of shoplifting. Many incidents do not come to the attention of the police, so data on the number of shoplifting crimes recorded by them only provide a partial picture. While official statistics from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) provide reliable estimates of the prevalence and frequency of shoplifting, the CVS no longer collects data the number of shoplifting offences or the overall cost of these crimes. When the CVS has collected this information in the past, retailers found it difficult to recall precise numbers of crimes they experienced, and the associated costs. As a result, these estimates we judged to be insufficiently reliable.
Home Office ministers have not met Retail Against Crime. The National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, the Rt Hon Chris Philp, co-chairs alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and Government departments.
At this forum, the Retail Crime Action Plan is a standing agenda item. At the last NRCSG, policing colleagues updated me on the implementation of the plan. Statistics published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show early signs of progress. A dip-sample of data from 31 police forces of over 1,500 crimes show police attended 60% of incidents reported by retailers where violence had been used, with 16% of forces sampled reporting 100% attendance to this type of incident.
The Government is supporting Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.
The Home Office will continue to work with members of the NRCSG, including policing and retailers to tackle shoplifting, including organised, as well as other crime experienced within retail settings through our wider work.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Mayor of London concerning proposals for a statue for the spare plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government has had no discussions with the Mayor of London concerning proposals for a statue for the spare plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 29 January (HL1664), when they expect to receive applications for the listing of gas lamps within Westminster, and what steps they will take to make public the outcome of those applications.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture Media and Sport has recently received the advice of Historic England on a number of these applications and protected four historic lamps by listing them at Grade II. These cases were assessed as part of a pilot group and Historic England, the Government's statutory advisor on heritage matters, is currently undertaking a series of wider listing assessments relating to gas lamps in Westminster. When this additional advice is received by the Department, each case will be carefully considered. Historic England is then responsible for notifying interested parties of the Minister's decision.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs intends to raise the case of Mr Keith Darby with his opposite number, Wang Yi of China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO continues to provide consular assistance to Mr Darby. Ministers have previously raised Mr Darby's case with the Chinese authorities. The FCDO's Permanent Under Secretary raised his case during his visit to China last year and HMA Beijing raised the case in January this year. The Foreign Secretary and FCDO Ministers will raise his case in engagements with China, and have asked that FCDO officials raise Mr Darby's case again with the Chinese Embassy in London and the Chinese MFA in Beijing.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ongoing case involving Mr Keith Darby and the Hainan Provincial Government in China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO continues to provide consular assistance to Mr Darby. Ministers have previously raised Mr Darby's case with the Chinese authorities. The FCDO's Permanent Under Secretary raised his case during his visit to China last year and HMA Beijing raised the case in January this year. The Foreign Secretary and FCDO Ministers will raise his case in engagements with China, and have asked that FCDO officials raise Mr Darby's case again with the Chinese Embassy in London and the Chinese MFA in Beijing.