Retail Trade: Crimes of Violence
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to protect retail staff from (a) intimidation and (b) assault.
Answered by Dame Diana Johnson
Shoplifting has increased at an unacceptable level in recent yeara, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for it.
This Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We will also end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200. These will be introduced in the first session Crime and Policing Bill.
The police made operational commitments in its October 2023 Retail Crime Action Plan, Retail Crime Action Plan (nbcc.police.uk) including a commitment for police across England and Wales to prioritise attendance where violence has been used towards shop staff.
Reporting crime to the police is the first crucial step in ensuring an appropriate police response. The Home Office is providing funding to the National Business Crime Centre to make it easier for retailers to report crime. We are also encouraging closer local partnerships between police and retailers, for example through Business Crime Reduction Partnerships, to help local police respond effectively to crimes reported.
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