Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will hold discussions with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors on trends in the level of crime affecting the wholesale sector.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is concerned about recent increases in crime affecting the retail and wholesale sector, including organised theft. We take this very seriously and are committed to tackling it.
I recently met the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, as part of a meeting with senior policing leads and representatives of the retail sector, to discuss shoplifting and retail crime and action we have taken.. Home Office officials are also taking forward further discussions with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors about the crime affecting them specifically.
On the 23 October, the National Police Chiefs Council published a 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. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
The 23 October 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: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with private facial recognition surveillance suppliers on use of live facial recognition in the retail sector.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government supports the appropriate use of facial recognition to solve and prevent crimes, bring offenders to justice, and keep people safe.
I have been engaging with a wide range of facial recognition suppliers, including those who supply to the retail sector, where it can play an important role in tackling retail crime.
The National Retail Crime Steering Group brings together Government, trade organisation, retailers and enforcement partners to discuss to ensure the response to crimes affecting the retail sector is as robust as it can be, which has included discussions on facial recognition.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Project Pegasus on the right to (a) privacy and (b) data protection.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Pegasus is 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.
Pegasus is spearheaded by Katy Bourne, the Business Crime lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) and is backed by the Home Office, 14 retailers and the National Business Crime Solution.
Pegasus will be funding the creation of a dedicated team of specialist analysts and intelligence officers to work within OPAL, the national policing team that oversees intelligence on serious organised acquisitive crime.
OPAL is responsible for the management of data and intelligence, as well as information sharing agreements set up with members of Pegasus.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address abuse faced by retail employees and ensure their safety and wellbeing.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 23 October, the National Police Chiefs Council launched their Retail Crime Action Plan; which includes a police commitment to prioritise attending the scene of retail crime instances where violence has been used; where an offender has been detained; or where evidence needs to be promptly secured and can only be done in person by police personnel.
The Government also took a significant step and legislated to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker via section 156 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This ensures the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences.
The National Retail Crime Steering Group has published practical resources (https://brc.org.uk/nrcsg-against-shop-worker-abuse-and-violence) to assist with the reporting of crime, employee safety, and guidance on how to effectively share information with the police, including how to make use of Victim Impact Statements to ensure the full impact of a crime can be considered by the court.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Penn on 14 November (HL Deb col 384), what assessment they have made of the availability of out-of-hours fraud and complaints teams within high street banks; and what consideration they have given to mandating a minimum level of out-of-hours provision.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime. Tackling fraud requires a unified and coordinated response from government, regulators, law enforcement and the private sector to better protect the public and businesses from fraud.
While specific decisions on the opening hours of high street banks and the out-of-hours services provided are commercial decisions for the firm, many of the major UK retail banks provide 24-hour helplines for customers who have been victims of fraud.
More broadly, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires banks and building societies to maintain effective systems and controls to prevent financial crime. The FCA’s rules also require firms to properly investigate all complaints, and, through ongoing supervision, it continues to monitor firms’ complaint handling processes.
If certain banks or building societies have more extensive out-of-hours fraud and complaints facilities, customers may choose to switch to an alternative provider using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS). The switch service is free to use and comes with a guarantee to protect customers from financial loss if something goes wrong. This means that customers are more able than ever to hold their banks or building society to account by voting with their feet, and that firms are incentivised to work hard to protect their existing customers from fraud and deal with complaints efficiently.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle retail crime and violence against shop workers.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Violent and abusive behaviour towards any worker, particularly those who provide a valuable service to the public, is never acceptable. We have taken significant steps to tackle retail crime, including publication of the police-led Retail Crime Action plan which details clear police response commitments and guidance for retailers.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will hold discussion with the Sentencing Council on the potential merits of making it more likely that perpetrators of retail crime receive custodial sentences.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales has a statutory duty to develop sentencing guidelines and monitor their use. These guidelines provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how blameworthy the offender is.
As an independent body, the Sentencing Council decides on its own priorities and work plan for producing and reviewing guidelines. Therefore, the Government cannot require the Council to review particular guidelines. It is open of course to individuals to approach the Council to ask that they do so, and I would encourage you to share your concerns with them. The Council’s published criteria for developing or revising guidelines is available on its website at: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing-and-the-council/about-the-sentencing-council/our-criteria-for-developing-or-revising-guidelines/.
The Ministry of Justice regularly monitors the effectiveness of the sentencing framework.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce abuse targeted at retail staff relating to shoplifting.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any public-facing worker is never acceptable. We take this issue very seriously and recognise the implications these incidents can have on businesses as well as the victims.
Police forces across England and Wales have recently committed to pursuing any available evidence where there is a reasonable chance it could lead to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. For shoplifting and assaults in retail, this could include reviewing CCTV evidence and using the Police National Database for facial searches to identify suspects.
On 23 October, the National Police Chiefs Council launched their Retail Crime Action Plan; which includes a police commitment to prioritise attending the scene of retail crime instances where violence has been used; where an offender has been detained; or where evidence needs to be promptly secured and can only be done in person by police personnel.
The Government took a significant step and legislated to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker via section 156 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This ensures the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of retail theft reports have resulted in a charge in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates showed that on a like for like basis crime has fallen by 56% since 2010.
Retail crime, including shoplifting and violence and abuse, is not acceptable and the Government takes this issue very seriously. I expect police to take a zero-tolerance approach to it.
Whilst the downward trend in charge rates is concerning, I welcome the 29% increase in charges for shop lifting offences in the latest statistics.
The Home Office routinely publish statistics on crimes recorded and charges and is the latest information can be accessed via the links below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of thefts of (a) tobacco and alcohol and (b) other stock within the wholesale sector; and if she will meet with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors to discuss steps to reduce these levels.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the most commonly stolen items in theft incidents for all sectors, combined, as part of the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS). The data was most recently published in May 2023 and is available at:
The sample size of the CVS is not large enough to yield reliable estimates and to assess trends in specific items that are stolen of the Wholesale sector specifically.
The Home Office works closely with retailers and trade organisations, and police partners via the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to ensure that the response to crimes affecting the retail sector is as robust as it can be. The Federation of Wholesale Distributors is represented on the NRCSG.
On a national level, the Home Office works 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 has published guidance on how to prevent wholesale and warehouse thefts on its website: NBCC National Business Crime Centre