Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce rates of shoplifting in Portsmouth.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since 2010 our communities are safer, with neighbourhood crimes including burglary, robbery and theft from the person down 48% and overall violent crime down 44%, and with more police officers on the streets than in 2010.
However, there has been a worrying rise in shoplifting and violence towards retail workers, which we need to address.
Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 37% in the 12 months to December 2023. Although, the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 46%, showing the police are heeding the message and taking action.
The Government has taken a number of recent significant steps to reduce and prevent retail crime. Our plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, which highlights five areas of work this Government will drive forward to tackle retail crime. This will include us introducing a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. We will develop a retail theft electronic monitoring (EM) ‘package’, to offer sentencers starting in a pilot area, a clear community sentence pathway for repeat retail theft offenders.
This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, which includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Figures published by the NPCC show early signs of progress.
Furthermore, we will bring forward legislative changes to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. This legislative change will provide that on the third sentencing occasion, an offender would be electronically monitored as part of any community sentence or post-release for the duration of any licence period.
Under section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, low-value shoplifting (value of £200 or less) is a summary offence, unless an adult elects to be tried in the Crown Court. Where a summary offence is committed, the case can be handled as a police-led prosecution.
Police-led prosecutions were introduced to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system by allowing for a simpler, more proportionate police-led process in high-volume, low-level, uncontested cases. This route enables cases to be handled more speedily, rather than cases having to go to the CPS and through the Crown Court.
Repealing this would mean victims of shoplifting have to wait longer for cases to come to court.
Written Evidence Apr. 17 2024
Inquiry: Violence and abuse towards retail workersFound: VTR0038 - Violence and abuse towards retail workers British Retail Consortium Written Evidence
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is taking steps through the criminal justice system to support small businesses affected by criminal damage.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates 623k criminal damage offences in the year ending December 2023, which is a decrease of -73.9% since year ending March 2010.
The Government is working to reduce crime against businesses. Police forces across England and Wales made a significant commitment to follow up on any available evidence where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. This is a substantial and meaningful commitment that we believe will help drive down crime, improve investigations and improve the criminal justice system outcomes to support all victims.
We are taking action to support the retail sector, including small, independent retailers. The Government’s plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April and includes commitments to make it easier for small independent businesses to report crime to the police.
In 2021-22, the Home Office provided £75,000 to the National Business Crime Centre to support the creation of a retail crime hub on their website and to establish it as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for business crime. The crime hub hosts a range of information and crime prevention guidance for businesses, including specific resources for preventing shop theft and prolific offending: Business Support (nbcc.police.uk). The Home Office will be providing further funding to the NBCC to carry out commitments in the Government’s retail crime plan.
We know anti-social behaviour blights neighbourhoods, makes people’s lives a misery and stops businesses and individuals from flourishing. That is why last year the Government launched the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan to crack down on anti-social behaviour and restore public confidence that these crimes will be quickly and visibly punished. Under the Plan, which is backed by £160m of funding, we are supporting increased patrols in anti-social behaviour hotspot areas, and making sure offenders are made to repair the damage they cause, in some cases within as little as 48 hours.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle retail theft.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting has on businesses, communities, and consumers. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows neighbourhood crime is down 51% compared to findings from the year ending March 2010.
However, Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in the 12 months to September 2023. Statistics also show the number of people charged with shoplifting offences has risen by 34% in the year ending September 2023, showing that police are taking action.
We have recently taken significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime, including shoplifting.
In October 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
This builds on the NPCC commitment that police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender, including shoplifting.
October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.
We are continuing to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which meets on a quarterly basis, to ensure the response to retail crime, including shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) police forces and (c) businesses in Wales on the incidence of shop theft in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The UK Government continues to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to crimes, such as shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.
Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in the 12 months leading to September 2023 in Wales and England. However, the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 34%, suggesting that we are now seeing a more robust response.
We have also taken other significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime.
October 2023 saw the publication of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Retail Crime Action Plan. The plan includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel, showing the Government commitment to tackling this issue. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database as standard using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
In addition, October 2023 also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information-sharing platform and training for retailers.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the introduction of the aggravating factor for attacks on public facing workers on levels of retail crime.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any worker, particularly those who provide a valuable service to the public, is never acceptable.
In 2022, we took the significant step to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against those who are serving the public. Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 means the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences, allowing the court to give a longer sentence within the statutory maximum for the offence.
Assaults against retail workers are not separately identifiable in police recorded crime data held centrally by the Home Office.
The Government shares concerns about the level of assaults against retailers. In October 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
The longer-term impact of the Action Plan will continue to be monitored; however, retailers have reported early signs of improvement in the police response to retail crime and according to data collected by the NPCC from a dip sample of forces in December 2023, police attended 60% of crimes reported by retailers where violence had been used, with 16% of forces sampled reporting 100% attendance to this type of incident: Policing Retail Crime Action Plan shows early impact (npcc.police.uk).
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to support shop workers who are victims of retail crime.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant impact crime can have, not only on businesses but also the wider community and consumers. I have been clear I expect a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime and shoplifting and have recently taken significant steps to improve the police response.
In October 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, the police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
This builds on the NPCC commitment that police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender.
In 2022, we introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against those who are serving the public. Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 means the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences, allowing the court to give a longer sentence within the statutory maximum for the offence.
These legislative and operational changes will go a long way to provide a better response to victims. We are continuing to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be for the victims of this crime.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to introduce legislation protecting shopworkers from serial or abusive shoplifters.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, and includes a new standalone offence for assaults on retail workers and electronic monitoring for prolific shoplifters. This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, launched in October 2023.
We will legislate through the Criminal Justice Bill, currently before Parliament, to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops.
The new bespoke offence of assaulting a retail worker will also be introduced via the Criminal Justice Bill. The offence will have a maximum penalty of six months in prison, or an unlimited fine – and upon conviction, it is expected that courts will make a Criminal Behaviour Order, which could bar offenders from visiting affected shops or premises. Breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order is a criminal offence and carries a five-year maximum prison sentence.
Those who repeatedly assault retail workers will be electronically monitored after their third offence, to crack down on reoffending and ensure those continuing down a path of violent behaviour will be met with further consequences. For the most serious violent offenders of assault, custodial sentences of up to five years in prison are already available.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will discuss attacks on employees in the retail sector at the next meeting of the National Retail Crime Steering Group.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any worker, particularly those who provide a valuable service to the public, is never acceptable.
The National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which I co-chair alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and Government departments. Violence and abuse towards retail workers will be discussed at the next NRCSG.
In October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Retail Crime Action Plan was launched, which includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. These are substantial commitments, and I will use the NRCSG to hold police to account, whilst also ensuring retailers are playing their part by providing evidence of shoplifting and violence and abuse to police.
In 2022, the Government took the significant step to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against those who are serving the public. Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 means the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences, allowing the court to give a longer sentence within the statutory maximum for the offence.
Written Evidence Apr. 17 2024
Inquiry: Violence and abuse towards retail workersFound: VTR0041 - Violence and abuse towards retail workers Federation of Wholesale Distributors Written Evidence