Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on (a) small businesses and (b) insurance premiums of changes in the levels of high street thefts.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this, everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.

We will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200.

We have announced £100 million of new funding to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers, community support officers and special constables into neighbourhood policing teams, as announced by the Prime Minister earlier this month.

Whilst Government does not generally intervene in the commercial pricing decisions of insurers, we are determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority rules.