Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will increase the length of sentences for people who commit violent crime against retail workers.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts, and the courts have a range of sentencing powers to deal with each offender effectively and appropriately, including discharges, fines, community sentences, suspended sentences and imprisonment.

The maximum penalty for an offence is set by Parliament and is designed to cover the most serious imaginable behaviours that may fall under that offence. We continue to keep maximum penalties under review to make ensure they reflect the seriousness of the offending behaviour.

Under the previous Government, shop theft increased to an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this as everybody has a right to feel safe at their place of work.

That is why, through our Crime and Policing Bill, we are introducing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker. The new offence will carry a maximum prison sentence of six months and/or an unlimited fine, matching the current sentence guidelines for common assault. It will also come with a presumption for a court to apply a Criminal Behaviour Order. This will prohibit the offender from doing anything described in the order, which might include a condition preventing specific acts which cause harassment, alarm or distress, or preventing an offender from visiting specific premises.

The Crime and Policing Bill will also introduce new measures to address the perceived immunity for ‘low value’ shop theft. With this change, there will no longer be a threshold categorising shop theft of goods worth £200 and under as ‘low value’. Instead, all cases of shop theft will be taken seriously irrespective of the value of goods stolen, with a maximum custodial penalty of 7 years. Shop theft of any amount is illegal, and repealing this legislation will ensure everyone understands this.