Crime and Policing Bill (Fourth sitting)

Debate between Harriet Cross and David Taylor

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Public Bill Committees

[David Taylor (Hemel Hempstead) (Lab)]

I want to make a brief point about the noise nuisance of vehicles. We are rightly focusing a lot of remarks on how dangerous these vehicles are for ordinary citizens trying to go about their day, but to reinforce a point made by the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Stockton West, about modified exhausts, I will share mine and my constituents’ annoyance at these things. It is unreasonable that someone in their own house with their windows closed should have to listen to a vehicle going by. Someone going for a walk on a nice sunny day has to listen to this antisocial behaviour, which has no benefit at all, as far as I can tell, in terms of the quality of the vehicle.

[Harriet Cross]

If one way to help reduce the likelihood that someone in their private house with the windows closed would not have to listen to these vehicles—as no one should—was to have powers to seize them from inside someone’s house, would the hon. Member support that?

Crime and Policing Bill (Fourth sitting)

Debate between Harriet Cross and David Taylor

Committee stage
Tuesday 1st April 2025 Public Bill Committees

[David Taylor (Hemel Hempstead) (Lab)]

I want to make a brief point about the noise nuisance of vehicles. We are rightly focusing a lot of remarks on how dangerous these vehicles are for ordinary citizens trying to go about their day, but to reinforce a point made by the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Stockton West, about modified exhausts, I will share mine and my constituents’ annoyance at these things. It is unreasonable that someone in their own house with their windows closed should have to listen to a vehicle going by. Someone going for a walk on a nice sunny day has to listen to this antisocial behaviour, which has no benefit at all, as far as I can tell, in terms of the quality of the vehicle.

[Harriet Cross]

If one way to help reduce the likelihood that someone in their private house with the windows closed would not have to listen to these vehicles—as no one should—was to have powers to seize them from inside someone’s house, would the hon. Member support that?

Crime and Policing Bill (Second sitting)

Debate between Harriet Cross and David Taylor

Committee stage
Thursday 27th March 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Harriet Cross]

All or any of you.

Graham Wynn: The other thing about the Scottish Act that is different is that abuse is covered. It is not clear whether that has actively been used—I believe it has a bit. Our concern is to focus on delivery drivers, because abuse is difficult to prove and to get the level right, other than with protected characteristics—there are special laws on that, as we all know.

Christopher Morris: One more thing: in the Scottish Act, there is an aggravating factor. When an incident happens as a result of a retail worker enforcing the law, that would be treated as an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing, which gives retail workers additional protections for enforcing law, which is important. In the abuse area, if you look at the figures—I cannot find them on my piece of paper just now—there is significant evidence that abuse and threats incidents have been recorded and reported under the Scottish Act as well, so it would be good to get those covered at the same time.

[David Taylor (Hemel Hempstead) (Lab)]

Q I will direct my question to Paul—thanks for coming in. I want to pick up on what Christopher said about the impact that shoplifting has had and why removing this £200 is so important. To put it into context, I am grateful for the visit that the Co-operative enabled for me in my constituency. I was able to go to see a Co-op store. I was taken to a room at the back where I was shown CD after CD of footage of regular shoplifting by the same offenders, and yet very little had been done about it. What impact has that had on your profits over the years, and also on your staff’s morale?

Paul Gerrard: I will do the second bit first, because I think it is the most important. Not long ago, the Retail Trust published some data that said that 37% of people in retail are looking to leave retail because of violence and threats of abuse, and 49% are scared going to work. According to USDAW’s figures, and those of the Association of Convenience Stores and the Retail Trust, 90% have been abused.

The impact on colleagues is enormous. If they are not being attacked themselves, they see their colleagues attacked. They see what happens and they have seen a lack of a police response. Also—I will just say this—a colleague of mine who was barged out of the way last weekend by a shoplifter has broken her femur. Her husband had to come and collect her. He did not wish her off to work that morning thinking he was going to have to collect her and take her to hospital to have an operation on a broken femur. The impact on colleagues is huge, and I do not think we should underestimate that.

Financially, for the Co-op last year, it was about £75 million in cost, in terms of product. For about the past six years, we have also spent £40 million—we spend three times the sector average—on preventive measures, guarding and IT. Financially, it is a significant hit—absolutely as Chris said. We have not done it yet, but I know some retailers have, and some stores are right on the edge of being viable. There is a huge impact on us, and on our colleagues. Our colleagues go to work to serve the communities that they very often live in; they do not go to work to get abuse, threats and violence. [Interruption.]