Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Metropolitan Police on investigating shoplifting offences where the value of goods stolen is less than £200.

Shoplifting is a damaging crime, which soared under the previous government, and we are determined to remove any perception that offenders will escape punishment.

To that end, this Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to shoplifting of goods under £200.

This Government regularly engages with National Police Chiefs' Council retail crime leads, ensuring effective collaboration to help combat retail crime.

Operational commitments were made by the police in its October 2023 Retail Crime Action Plan. The plan contains a commitment for police across England and Wales to prioritise attendance where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured by police personnel.

This Government will also introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.