Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has held discussions with representatives of the retail sector on preventing attacks on staff working in shops.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is clear that violence and abuse towards any worker is not acceptable.
The Home Office works closely with retailers and trade organisations and police partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to understand the issues retailers are experiencing. The NRCSG meet twice yearly, and discussions include how to help reduce incidents of violence and abuse towards shop staff, and to support staff when this does occur.
On a national level, we continue to work closely with the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) to understand the crimes affecting businesses and help ensure businesses and police are working effectively together.
In addition, section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker. This ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for any assault offence where they consider this factor to be relevant.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect shopworkers from violence and abuse by customers in their place of work.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is clear that violence and abuse towards any worker is not acceptable.
Last year we introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing workers via section 156 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This applies in cases of assault where an offence is committed against those performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This legislative change ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for an offence.
The Home Office continues to work closely with retailers, trade associations and the police through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to encourage retailers to work with police so that crimes are effectively dealt with at a local level. The NRCSG has produced practical resources to assist retailers to report crimes when they occur. These are available here.
The Home Office-funded #ShopKind campaign is also key to getting the message across that violence and abuse towards retail workers across the country will not be tolerated. The campaign asks the public to consider their behaviour and shop with kindness.
Police recorded offences in England and Wales (excluding Devon and Cornwall) for shoplifting and all theft offences for year ending December 2022 are showing a fall of 12% and 13% respectively compared with the pre-pandemic period of March 2020.
Volumes data for shoplifting from police recorded crime (PRC) data should be interpreted with caution due to under reporting of shoplifting. Therefore, the volumes presented here are likely to underestimate the true level of shoplifting.
Across England and Wales we now have the highest number of police officers on record with over 149,500 officers.
As a result of the unprecedented police recruitment drive we have recruited over 20,000 additional officers. That means that there are now over 3,500 more officers in England and Wales than the previous peak in 2010.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the (a) implications for her policies of and (b) the potential impact of increases in the cost of living on trends in the level of shoplifting incidents.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office works closely with retailers and trade organisations such as the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), and police partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to understand the crime trends retailers are experiencing. Recent discussions at the NRCSG have included the impact of the cost of living on crime such as shoplifting, and we continue to keep this under review.
The NRCSG has produced practical resources to provide guidance on partnership working and encourage engagement with Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) to help ensure businesses and police can work effectively together to identify the trends and types of crimes that affect businesses and to ensure incidents are dealt with appropriately.
We also work closely with the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) to help prevent crime against businesses. The NBCC has undertaken a number of Safer Action Business Days (SABA) across the country, where police, BCRPs and retailers work in partnership to carry out days of action to deliver a focussed operation with joint patrols, targeted intervention
of offenders and a range of crime prevention activities.
Police recorded offences in England and Wales (excluding Devon and Cornwall) for shoplifting and all theft offences for year ending December 2022 are showing a fall of 12% and 13% respectively compared with the pre-pandemic period of March 2020.
Volumes data for shoplifting from police recorded crime (PRC) data should be interpreted with caution due to under reporting of shoplifting. Therefore, the volumes presented here are likely to underestimate the true level of shoplifting.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) USDAW and (b) the British Retail Consortium on taking steps to help tackle abuse and violence towards retail workers; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is clear that violence and abuse towards any worker is not acceptable.
The Home Office continues to work closely with retailers, trade associations and the police through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG). The NRCSG, which I co-chair with the British Retail Consortium (BRC), brings together Government, the retail industry and law enforcement in our response to tackle retail crime – especially focussing on tackling violence and abuse against retail workers. USDAW is an active member of this group.
The Home Office has been working with members of the NRCSG, through a number of Task and Finish groups, to produce resources to help prevent violence and abuse in retail settings, including resources to support victims when these crimes do occur. The published resources are all available on the NRCSG webpage on the BRC website here: Violence and Abuse Against Shop Workers (brc.org.uk)
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that perpetrators of abuse against retail workers are charged.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is clear that violence and abuse towards any worker is not acceptable. We introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker via section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. The aggravating factor applies in cases of assault where an offence is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This legislative change ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for an offence.
The Home Office continues to work closely with retailers, trade associations and the police through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to encourage retailers to work with police so that crimes are effectively dealt with at a local level. The NRCSG has produced practical resources to assist retailers to report crimes when they occur. These are available here.Violence and Abuse Against Shop Workers (brc.org.uk)
We have published guidance Section 4: Victim Services and Victim Care (brc.org.uk)on the use of Impact Statements for Business which provide victims with the opportunity to tell the police and courts about how the crime has affected them.
Charging decisions are a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked by: Lord McCabe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle retail crime in the West Midlands.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government is working closely with retailers, trade organisations, police and enforcement partners across England and Wales via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to crimes affecting the retail sector is as robust as it can be. This group includes representation from West Midlands Police who are involved in a number of crime prevention initiatives, including the Offender to Rehab Programme which is helping to reduce crimes like shoplifting by supporting prolific offenders with substance misuse issues through rehabilitation.
On a national level, we continue to work closely with the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) to understand the crimes affecting businesses and help ensure businesses and police are working effectively together. The NBCC launched a week of action in October involving a number of police force areas, including West Midlands, holding targeted operations in towns and city centres and engaging with local businesses to raise awareness of the impact of business crime and how to prevent it. The week of action has encouraged more effective partnership working and highlighted the importance of reporting crimes when they occur.
The Government has also recently taken significant action to tackle violence and abuse by introducing a statutory aggravating factor for assault against all public facing workers. This legislative change ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for an offence. Section 156 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 commenced in June and sends a very clear message that assaults of this kind are unacceptable.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the retail sector on crime against retail workers in their place of work.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is working closely with retailers, trade organisations and enforcement partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to crimes affecting the retail sector is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG is co-chaired by Tom Ironside, Director of Business & Regulation at the British Retail Consortium and me. This is an important forum to discuss crime issues experienced by retailers and to work together to find solutions.
The Government has taken action to tackle violence and abuse by introducing a statutory aggravating factor via the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
The public facing nature of the victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This rightly includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles. The provision will commence on 28 June and builds on the important work already underway through the NRCSG to ensure assaults are not seen as part of a retail worker’s job.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle crime against retail workers in their place of work.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is working closely with retailers, trade organisations and enforcement partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to crimes affecting the retail sector is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG is co-chaired by Tom Ironside, Director of Business & Regulation at the British Retail Consortium and me. This is an important forum to discuss crime issues experienced by retailers and to work together to find solutions.
The Government has taken action to tackle violence and abuse by introducing a statutory aggravating factor via the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
The public facing nature of the victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This rightly includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles. The provision will commence on 28 June and builds on the important work already underway through the NRCSG to ensure assaults are not seen as part of a retail worker’s job.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the British Retail Consortium 2022 Crime Survey.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is working closely with retailers, trade organisations and enforcement partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure the response to crimes affecting the retail sector is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG is co-chaired by Tom Ironside, Director of Business & Regulation at the British Retail Consortium and me. This is an important forum to discuss crime issues experienced by retailers and to work together to find solutions.
The Government has taken action to tackle violence and abuse by introducing a statutory aggravating factor via the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
The public facing nature of the victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This rightly includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles. The provision will commence on 28 June and builds on the important work already underway through the NRCSG to ensure assaults are not seen as part of a retail worker’s job.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they intend to take to protect retail workers from violence and abuse.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government conducted a call for evidence on violence and abuse toward shop staff to understand the extent of the issue and how we can work with retailers and police to improve the response to these crimes. The Government’s formal response was published 7 July 2020 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence