Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with her EU counterparts on the potential impact of the 90-in-180-day rule on UK nationals since January 2025.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before ProrogationAsked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support mechanisms exist for small businesses who lose stock or income due to crime where no insurance cover is available.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government recognises the significant challenges that crime and theft can pose for small businesses. There is a wide range of available insurance products, where cover is difficult to secure, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association can help identify specialist brokers.
The Government is also strengthening its response to retail crime and improving town centre safety through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Safer Streets mission, and the new High Streets Illegality Taskforce.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how police forces will be held accountable for improving response times, investigations and conviction rates following the introduction of new measures under the Crime and Policing Bill.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police forces will be held accountable for improving response times and investigative outcomes through the new Police Performance System, which will provide a single, consistent picture of police performance across all forces, enable earlier identification of problems and provide targeted support to deliver better service for the public.
As set out in the Police Reform White Paper, we have committed to introducing clear national targets on response times. The Police Performance System will enable consistent assessment of contact and response, using nationally comparable data. This will strengthen the scrutiny of underperforming forces, enabling earlier and robust intervention, including performance improvement plans where necessary and statutory intervention powers.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures are being taken to improve detection and prosecution rates for shoplifting offences.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, this Government has introduced a new specific standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to help tackle the epidemic of shop theft and violence towards shop workers that we have seen in recent years and protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
This bespoke offence will send a clear signal to perpetrators that assaults on retail workers are unacceptable and won’t go unpunished. It will also ensure that assaults on retail workers are separately recorded so that we know the true scale of the problem, enabling the police to respond accordingly.
The Government is also supporting the ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy’, which was jointly developed by the police and industry, providing a collaborative and evidence-based approach in preventing and detecting retail crime.
We are providing £7 million over a three‑year period covering 2025 to 2028, to tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team – in partnership with the retail sector - to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
Additionally, we are removing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the new offence of assaulting a shop worker on levels of retail crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, this Government has introduced a new specific standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to help tackle the epidemic of shop theft and violence towards shop workers that we have seen in recent years and protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
This bespoke offence will send a clear signal to perpetrators that assaults on retail workers are unacceptable and won’t go unpunished. It will also ensure that assaults on retail workers are separately recorded so that we know the true scale of the problem, enabling the police to respond accordingly.
The Government is also supporting the ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy’, which was jointly developed by the police and industry, providing a collaborative and evidence-based approach in preventing and detecting retail crime.
We are providing £7 million over a three‑year period covering 2025 to 2028, to tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team – in partnership with the retail sector - to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
Additionally, we are removing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what impact assessment has been undertaken on how potential new powers introduced through the Crime and Policing Bill will affect high streets, markets, and independent traders.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government published a number of impact assessments and economic notes upon the introduction of the Bill, which can be accessed here: Crime and Policing Bill 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK and here: Crime and Policing Bill 2025: economic notes - GOV.UK.
We will publish further impact assessments after the Bill receives Royal Assent.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the Crime and Policing Bill on small businesses, including sole traders, in relation to crime prevention and victim support.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government published a number of impact assessments and economic notes upon the introduction of the Bill, which can be accessed here: Crime and Policing Bill 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK and here: Crime and Policing Bill 2025: economic notes - GOV.UK.
We will publish further impact assessments after the Bill receives Royal Assent.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of powers planned in the Crime and Policing Bill on (a) levels of detection and (b) prosecution rates for commercial burglaries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the wide-reaching impact of commercial burglary, including the profound impact these crimes can have on business owners, retail workers and the wider community.
The offences for non-residential burglaries such as business and commercial burglary across England and Wales decreased by 13% in the year to September 2025 compared with the previous year.
The table below shows the proportion of non-residential (commercial) burglaries reported to police in England resulted in a charge or summons in the last three years:
Police recorded offences, burglary - business and community, England
Year to Sep 2023 | Year to Sep 2024 | Year to Sep 2025 (as first published in Jan 2026) | |
Burglary - business and community |
|
| |
Offences Recorded | 80,524 | 79,661 | 68,863 |
Volume of charged/summoned | 5,785 | 6,544 | 6,093 |
Charged/summoned rate for offences recorded | 7.2% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
Note 1: Figures for year ending Sep 2023 exclude Devon and Cornwall
The Government is determined that robust action should be taken to prevent commercial burglaries from happening and ensure swift justice for perpetrators.
We are doing this by focusing our efforts on delivering our ambitious police reform agenda, the central aim of which is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like tackling commercial burglary. In addition, the Government has already taken steps to boost the neighbourhood policing response, ensuring that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers and more visible patrols, with over 3,000 additional police officers and police community support officers put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are giving police the powers they need, including to enter and search premises where stolen items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.
Guidance for the police, including authorised professional practice guidance, is a matter for the College of Policing. The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) works closely with businesses, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce the impact of business crime in the UK. National Police Chief Council leads for business crime work closely with the NBCC to support the policing response to business crime, including on improved outcomes.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the government is taking to ensure that victims of commercial crime receive timely updates on the progress of investigations.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the wide-reaching impact of commercial burglary, including the profound impact these crimes can have on business owners, retail workers and the wider community.
The offences for non-residential burglaries such as business and commercial burglary across England and Wales decreased by 13% in the year to September 2025 compared with the previous year.
The table below shows the proportion of non-residential (commercial) burglaries reported to police in England resulted in a charge or summons in the last three years:
Police recorded offences, burglary - business and community, England
Year to Sep 2023 | Year to Sep 2024 | Year to Sep 2025 (as first published in Jan 2026) | |
Burglary - business and community |
|
| |
Offences Recorded | 80,524 | 79,661 | 68,863 |
Volume of charged/summoned | 5,785 | 6,544 | 6,093 |
Charged/summoned rate for offences recorded | 7.2% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
Note 1: Figures for year ending Sep 2023 exclude Devon and Cornwall
The Government is determined that robust action should be taken to prevent commercial burglaries from happening and ensure swift justice for perpetrators.
We are doing this by focusing our efforts on delivering our ambitious police reform agenda, the central aim of which is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like tackling commercial burglary. In addition, the Government has already taken steps to boost the neighbourhood policing response, ensuring that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers and more visible patrols, with over 3,000 additional police officers and police community support officers put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are giving police the powers they need, including to enter and search premises where stolen items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.
Guidance for the police, including authorised professional practice guidance, is a matter for the College of Policing. The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) works closely with businesses, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce the impact of business crime in the UK. National Police Chief Council leads for business crime work closely with the NBCC to support the policing response to business crime, including on improved outcomes.
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is provided to police forces on response times and follow-up for non-residential burglaries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the wide-reaching impact of commercial burglary, including the profound impact these crimes can have on business owners, retail workers and the wider community.
The offences for non-residential burglaries such as business and commercial burglary across England and Wales decreased by 13% in the year to September 2025 compared with the previous year.
The table below shows the proportion of non-residential (commercial) burglaries reported to police in England resulted in a charge or summons in the last three years:
Police recorded offences, burglary - business and community, England
Year to Sep 2023 | Year to Sep 2024 | Year to Sep 2025 (as first published in Jan 2026) | |
Burglary - business and community |
|
| |
Offences Recorded | 80,524 | 79,661 | 68,863 |
Volume of charged/summoned | 5,785 | 6,544 | 6,093 |
Charged/summoned rate for offences recorded | 7.2% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
Note 1: Figures for year ending Sep 2023 exclude Devon and Cornwall
The Government is determined that robust action should be taken to prevent commercial burglaries from happening and ensure swift justice for perpetrators.
We are doing this by focusing our efforts on delivering our ambitious police reform agenda, the central aim of which is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like tackling commercial burglary. In addition, the Government has already taken steps to boost the neighbourhood policing response, ensuring that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers and more visible patrols, with over 3,000 additional police officers and police community support officers put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are giving police the powers they need, including to enter and search premises where stolen items are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.
Guidance for the police, including authorised professional practice guidance, is a matter for the College of Policing. The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) works closely with businesses, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to prevent and reduce the impact of business crime in the UK. National Police Chief Council leads for business crime work closely with the NBCC to support the policing response to business crime, including on improved outcomes.