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 - Minister of State (Home Office)
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 - Minister of State (Home Office)
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: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce incidences of knife crime against shop workers.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has provided £130m this financial year (22/23) to tackle and drive down serious violence, including funding for Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) and the Home Office ‘Grip’ programme.
We have introduced legislation to tackle these crimes. Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) are new court orders introduced via the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 that will give the police the power to stop and search adults already convicted of knife or offensive weapons offences. We will pilot SVROs in four police force areas to build an understanding of the impact and effectiveness of the new orders before making a decision on whether we should introduce them nationally.
Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs) were introduced in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. KCPOs impose curfews and restrictions on high-risk individuals. They are currently being piloted by the Metropolitan Police before a decision is taken on wider rollout.
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.
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 with crime prevention and encourage retailers to report crimes when they occur.
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 - Minister of State (Home Office)
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: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes involving (a) violence or (b) abuse against retail employees committed while they were at work have been reported to the police in the years 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested on the number of crimes of violence or abuse against retail employees is not held centrally by the Home Office. However, estimates from the 2021 Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) offer valuable evidence in this area, indicating that 14% of premises in the Wholesale and Retail business sector experienced assaults and threats, robbery, or both in the year ending March 2021; equivalent to 53,000 premises.
Partnership working between the police and businesses is vital to ensuring an effective response to retail crimes. The Home Office is encouraging closer local partnerships between police and business, for example through Business Crime Reduction Partnerships to help local police understand the issues in a local area and determine an appropriate response. We also encourage the use of Victim and Business Impact Statements to help the police understand how a crime has affected the victim.
The Government has also taken action to tackle violence and abuse against retail workers and other public-facing workers by introducing a statutory aggravating factor via the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This will mean that 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. The provision commenced on 28 June.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 - Minister of State (Home Office)
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: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the current level of violence perpetrated against retail workers.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government recognises the significant and long-lasting impact violence and abuse towards retail workers can have on its victims.
The Home Office Annual Commercial Victimisation Survey was published on 30 March 2022. The surveys highlight the sector’s experience of, and concerns about, levels of violence and abuse towards shop workers, and shop theft by customers. Annual retail sector crime surveys, undertaken by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) were published in Spring 2022. Each of these surveys show an increase in violence and abuse towards retail workers in the previous year.
The Government has taken action to tackle assaults against any worker providing a service to the public 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 includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles. The provision commenced on 28 June and builds on the important work already underway by the Home Office through the National Retail Crime Steering Group to ensure assaults are not seen as part of a retail worker’s job.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps she is taking with the CPS to improve prosecution rates for offences against retail and emergency workers.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The CPS treats assaults against retail and emergency workers extremely seriously. In accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, charges are selected to reflect the seriousness and extent of the offending and give the court adequate powers to sentence.
The CPS is a signatory to a Joint Agreement on Offences against Emergency Workers which provides a framework to ensure the more effective investigation and prosecution of cases where emergency workers are the victim of a crime. It also sets the standards victims of these crimes can expect.
The CPS has issued legal guidance to prosecutors on the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018. This guidance highlights that the Act requires courts to consider an offence against an emergency worker as an aggravating factor in sentencing. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 has extended the statutory aggravating factor cover to assaults on those providing a public service including those who provide goods or facilities to the public.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 Wood Green)
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.