Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to help protect retail workers from physical or verbal abuse in the workplace.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government considers a specific new offence of assaulting a retail worker is not needed. A wide range of offences already exist which criminalise threatening or abusive behaviour intended to harass, alarm or distress a person, and which would apply in cases of violence towards people whose work brings them into contact with members of the public. These offences cover the full spectrum of unacceptable behaviour from using abusive language to the most serious and violent offences.
While the sentencing of offenders is extremely important, reporting, investigating and making sure there are consequences for these crimes is much more likely to drive down the numbers of incidents.
Asked by: Dean Russell (Conservative - Watford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to protect retail workers from verbal and physical abuse as covid-19 lockdown restrictions ease.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
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 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
To address the actions raised in the call for evidence the Home Office has worked closely with retailers and trade organisations through the National Retail Crime Steering Group. We have developed resources to assist retailers to report crimes when they occur, resources for shop staff who are victims of violence and abuse, and the #Shopkind communications campaign. The downloadable resources are free to use and are available here: https://brc.org.uk/nrcsg-against-shop-worker-abuse-and-violence/
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the level of violence experienced by retail workers during the covid-19 outbreak in (a) York, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This Government recognises that the abuse and physical violence faced by shop staff can have a significant impact on their health, not only physically but mentally and emotionally. In response to the Government’s Call for Evidence in 2019 the majority of respondents believed violence and abuse toward retail staff had increased in recent years.
While the consultation reflected the experiences of retailers and shopworkers before the pandemic, representatives of the sector on the National Retail Crime Steering Group have reported that retailers experienced an increase in incidents of abuse against their staff during the panic buying that occurred in March 2020, and during the subsequent months while social distancing measures were in place.
The Government’s formal response to the Call for Evidence was published 7 July 2020 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence
The Home Office is working closely with retailers and trade organisations through the National Retail Crime Steering Group. We have developed resources to assist retailers to report crimes when they occur, resources for shop staff who are victims of violence and abuse, and the #Shopkind communications campaign. The downloadable resources are free to use and are available here: https://brc.org.uk/nrcsg-against-shop-worker-abuse-and-violence/
The next phase of the work will look at the causes of retail violence, such as drug and alcohol addiction, and what can be done to address these in the retail setting.
Asked by: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect shopworkers from abusive customers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
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 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
To address the actions raised in the call for evidence the Home Office has worked closely with retailers and trade organisations through the National Retail Crime Steering Group. We have developed resources to assist retailers to report crimes when they occur, resources for shop staff who are victims of violence and abuse, and the #Shopkind communications campaign. The downloadable resources are free to use and are available here: https://brc.org.uk/nrcsg-against-shop-worker-abuse-and-violence/
The next phase of the work will look at the causes of retail violence, such as drug and alcohol addiction, and what can be done to address these in the retail setting.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a Fit-to-Trade licensing scheme so that no garment factory could operate unless it was approved by labour enforcement agencies.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS officials, along with Home Office colleagues and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority have been engaging with the British Retail Consortium and the wider retail sector to understand the systemic issues that lead to non-compliance and what measures could be used to tackle them. Given the serious nature of the allegations in Leicester and the spectrum of issues and concerns, it is imperative that we have a strong evidence base to inform the options we are considering in order to protect vulnerable workers and drive-up standards.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to (a) keep safe, (b) support and (c) protect frontline staff in light of the finding by Usdaw that abusive incidents toward shop workers have doubled since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
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 improve the response to these crimes. The 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
To address the actions raised in the call for evidence the Government is working closely with retailers and trade organisations, including Usdaw through the National Retail Crime Steering Group to deliver a programme of work which aims to provide better support to victims, improve reporting, increase data sharing between businesses and police, and raise awareness of this crime among employers and the public.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Home Office:
Whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals on protecting shopworkers from abuse, violence and threats.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
A wide range of offences already exist which cover assaults against any worker, and a change in the law is not needed.
The current sentencing guidelines include an aggravating factor for an assault committed against a person who is providing a service to the public, such as a shop worker. In these circumstances a more severe sentence can be given.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure retail workers are protected from abusive customers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Last year the Home Office ran a call for evidence on Violence and Abuse Toward Shop Staff to understand further the issue and the measures which may help prevent these crimes. The Government published a response to the Call for Evidence in July. Action the Government is taking to reduce violence and abuse experienced by shop workers is set out in the response, which is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence
The Government is also working closely with the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to address key issues highlighted by taking forward a programme of work focused on:
• Developing communications for both employees and employers to make clear that violence and abuse of shop workers is not tolerated;
• Developing a best practice guide that aims to support staff in reporting these crimes when they occur to ensure that a suitable response can be delivered;
• Looking at barriers to effective data sharing between businesses and the police to ensure that information can be used to better understand the problem; and
• Looking at how to better provide support to victims.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to better protect shop workers from abuse and violence in the workplace as set out in the British Retail Consortium's Shopworkers' Protection Pledge, published in September 2020; and what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of incidences of abuse and violence towards shop workers in the workplace (a) at all times and (b) during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The existing Sentencing Assaults guidelines by the Sentencing Council already requires courts to treat the fact that an offence was committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public as an aggravating factor, making the offence more serious. The Government does not consider that a change to the law is required
The Government is working closely with retailers through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) co-chaired by the British Retail Consortium to deliver a programme of work which aims to provide better support to victims, improve reporting, increase data sharing and raise awareness of this despicable crime.
Following the outbreak of Covid-19, the Sentencing Council published interim guidance in April that clarifies that, when sentencing assault offences relating to the transmission of Covid-19, the courts should treat this as meriting a more severe sentence.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce a fit to trade licensing scheme to tackle labour exploitation in garment factories.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to tackling labour exploitation and protecting workers’ rights. We have taken a number of steps to deal with the issues in the textiles sector and take this issue very seriously. In light of the very concerning recent allegations of illegal and unsafe working conditions for garment workers in Leicester, a multi-agency Taskforce, led by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has been established to enable the relevant enforcement bodies to work together at pace, to take appropriate action against unscrupulous employers and individuals who exploit workers.
We are also working in partnership with the industry through the Apparel and General Merchandise Public and Private Protocol, a partnership between enforcement bodies and industry partners - including, the British Retail Consortium, UK Fashion and the Textile Association – aimed at tackling all forms of labour exploitation in the garment industry. Given the serious nature of the allegations in Leicester and the spectrum of labour market non-compliance issues that have been raised, it is imperative that we have a strong evidence base to inform the options we are considering to protect vulnerable workers and drive up standards. The Government will continue to work closely with the taskforce to consider the most appropriate measures to tackle labour exploitation in this sector.
The Government is committed to improving enforcement of employment rights. We have announced the intention to introduce a Single Enforcement Body, which will provide a clearer route for workers to raise a complaint and get support, enabling more coordinated enforcement action and the use of pooled intelligence to better target proactive enforcement. The public consultation on the establishment of the new Single Enforcement Body included questions on extending licensing to other high-risk sectors. We will publish a response to this consultation in due course.