Asked by: Satvir Kaur (Labour - Southampton Test)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle retail crime in (a) Southampton and (b) nationally; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional powers to the police for this purpose.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Shop theft is at a record high, police recorded crime for shoplifting in Southampton Community Partnership area saw an increase of (43%) in the latest year and a higher increase than in England and Wales as a whole (29%).
This Government is taking strong action to tackle this problem by ending the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to shop theft of goods under £200. We will also introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
As announced in the Autumn Budget, and building on current Home Office funding, we will provide:
£5 million over three years to continue to fund a specialist analysis team within Opal, the National Policing Intelligence Unit for serious organised acquisitive crime, to crack down on organised gangs targeting retailers;
£2 million over three years to the National Business Crime Centre, a resource for police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime; and
£100k in 2025-26 for the National Police Chiefs' Council for further training on prevention tactics.
Asked by: Satvir Kaur (Labour - Southampton Test)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making wildlife crimes notifiable offences.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are no plans currently to make wildlife crimes notifiable. Any non-notifiable wildlife crime reported to the police can still be investigated where appropriate, as Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.
This Government recognises the importance of tackling wildlife crime, which is why, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office directly funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit to help tackle these crimes.