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Retail Trade: Crime

Asked by Max WilkinsonLiberal DemocratHome OfficeTabled Answered 11 February 2026UIN 111248

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been allocated to Opal in the National Policing Intelligence Unit in each year since 2021.

Answered by Sarah Jones

Opal is the National Policing Intelligence Unit for serious organised acquisitive crime. In 2023/4 and 2024/5, the Home Office provided £30,000 each year to help set up and run Pegasus which provides for a retail crime desk within Opal.

The Home Office is providing £5 million over the three financial years from 2025/6 to continue to fund Opal’s work with retailers and police forces to identify and dismantle organised crime groups and prolific offenders.

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