Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of convictions for assaults against retail workers the sentence was increased on account of the aggravating factor of offence committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public in each of the last three years.
Everyone should feel safe at work which is why assaults on retail workers, doing vital work for the country and the economy, are simply unacceptable. However, centrally held information on assault offences does not identify whether the victim was a retail worker, nor whether any aggravating factors were taken into account in sentencing. This information may be held on court records, but to be able to identify cases in which a sentence was increased on account of the aggravating factor of the offence committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public would require accessing individual court records, which would be of disproportionate cost.