Retail Crime: Effects

Lord Davies of Gower Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Gower (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hannett of Everton, for bringing this important debate to the House and for the work he has done and is doing in this important area. Indeed, I thank all noble Lords for their thoughtful and very sincere contributions this evening. I think we can all agree that the impact of retail crime on workers, the community and local economies is a real threat to businesses and people’s livelihoods. As a Conservative, I believe in being tough on crime and I welcome any attempt by the Government to stamp out retail crime where they see it.

We have heard a lot today about the record of the previous Government. Since 2010 neighbourhood crimes, including burglary, robbery and theft from the person, are down by 48% and overall violent crime is down by 44%, with more police officers on the streets than in 2010. The previous Government took a number of significant steps to reduce and prevent retail crime. Our plan, Fighting Retail Crime: More Action was launched on 10 April and highlighted five areas of work to tackle retail crime. We made it easier for retailers to report crime by allowing them to send CCTV footage of an incident to allow it to be processed as quickly as possible after an offence is committed. However, there has been a worrying rise in shoplifting and violence towards retail workers, which we need to address.

Police-recorded crime figures show that shoplifting offences—I will use that term just for the moment—increased by 37% in the 12 months to December 2023, although the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 46%, which demonstrates that the previous Government took shoplifting and retail crime extremely seriously.

I want to address the issue of shop theft under £200, which has been referred to in this debate as “decriminalisation”. We did not change the law on shop theft; it has always been a criminal offence. However, under the previous Government it was made a summary offence in 2014. To stress this point, we did not decriminalise shop theft under the value of £200. It remains a punishable offence under the Theft Act but a summary-only offence, triable at a magistrates’ court. I assure noble Lords, given my background in policing, that it is a Section 1 offence, it has always been considered as a Section 1 offence by me, and I think “shoplifting” is a rather unfortunate term. When I think back to my own policing experience, I spent some years as a CID officer at Marylebone police station, which covered Oxford Street, one of the busiest streets in London.

The noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, raised a very important point about processing these people. One of the big challenges when you have a police station full of people who are perhaps of no fixed abode or have come to London on a shopping spree is dealing with them administratively, which is very difficult and takes time. It is all well and good talking about resources for police, but the question is how we deal with these people, and perhaps we have to streamline how we do so.

If I may, I have some questions for the Government. In our plan, the Conservatives included a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. Can the Minister confirm whether His Majesty’s Government will be doing the same, building on this good work? This legislative change will provide that, on the third sentencing occasion, an offender would be electronically monitored as part of any community sentence, or post-release for the duration of any licence period. Will the Minister confirm whether the legislation will be changed as we intended?

Finally, in government, the Conservatives introduced the crime of assault specifically against retail workers. The previous Government pledged the use of facial recognition technology to help catch perpetrators and prevent shoplifting in the first place, backed by a £55.5 million investment. Can the Minister assure the House that this investment will continue to be provided at the same level, as a minimum, by the current Government?

We must take a moment to think of lone retail workers, often working late at night to serve their communities, who may be victims of opportunistic crime. It is imperative that we support those who work in this sector and seek the harshest possible penalties for those who seek to disrupt our social fabric by attacking retail workers. I feel sure that the Minister, together with the House, will agree with me on this point.

As a former police officer of 32 years, I know how important it is that the police are well-funded, supported and seen as integral to the community. I also know how important it is to tackle retail crime, and the deep harm it causes to local communities. I point to our good record in this area but note that there is always more to be done. I look forward to receiving answers from the Minister and to listening to what he has to say. I thank noble Lords for their attention.