Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of seasonal visitor surges on levels of (a) shop theft and (b) antisocial behaviour in rural and coastal constituencies.

This Government recognises the great harm and misery that anti-social behaviour (ASB) and shop theft causes our communities, including during seasonal visitor peaks in coastal and rural areas.That is why tackling anti-social behaviour and shop theft are top priorities for this Government, and at the heart of our Safer Streets Mission.

We are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police tackle retail crime. We are supporting the implementation of the new ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’ strategy, published by policing, retail sector representatives and industry as part of collective efforts to combat shop theft.

As part of our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, every police force in England and Wales now has a dedicated lead officer for ASB, who will work with communities to develop a local ASB action plan.

And we are legislating through the Crime and Policing Bill to strengthen powers available to the police to tackle ASB and shop theft.​ This includes new Respect Orders to tackle persistent adult ASB offenders, powers for the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes, repealing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence and introducing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.