Home Office Minister Lord Hanson opened the debate by explaining that the Government is in continuing conversations about the application of the Crime and Policing Bill in Wales, after Members of the Senedd, representing the Conservatives, Reform UK and Plaid Cymru, combined to decline consent to the Bill.
Usdaw’s annual survey of nearly 9,000 retail staff showed that in 2025 abuse and threats continued to grow, with violence still more than twice pre-pandemic levels. With shoplifting having more than doubled since the pandemic, the survey found that abuse, threats and assaults remain higher than pre-Covid levels in 2019.
Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “No-one should feel afraid to go to work, but our evidence shows that nearly four in five of our members working in retail are being abused, threatened and assaulted for simply doing their job and serving the community. They provide an essential service and deserve our respect and the protection of the law.
“It is difficult to understand why the main opposition parties in Wales came together to oppose a new law to protect retail staff. Shoplifting in Wales has doubled since the pandemic, and that is directly linked to the increase in attacks on staff. It would be shameful if the Tories, Plaid and Reform have blocked this important legislation from applying in Wales.
“However, we welcome Peers today passing the Crime and Policing Bill, which includes a much-needed protection of shop workers’ law; ending the indefensible £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters and Respect Orders for offenders. Scotland already has a protection of retail workers law and the Northern Ireland Executive introduced their Sentencing Bill earlier this year, which contains a similar measure.
“After many years of campaigning alongside retail employers, it really now feels like governments are listening and taking action to give all retail workers across the UK the protections and respect they deserve. Once the legislation is enacted we need to ensure that it is enforced by working with government, councils, police and retailers to raise awareness, improve reporting and the response to retail crime.
“The Government is already taking action to drive down retail crime by working in close partnership with the police and retail sector to take the actions that will make the most difference. Their police reforms are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues. Also, with their Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, every community now has a named contactable officer, dedicated to addressing local issues, including shop theft.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest with around 370,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also represents many workers in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Usdaw’s survey of 8,980 UK retail staff found that in 2025 (% in 2024) [% in 2019]:
- 78% were verbally abused (77%) [68%].
- 54% were threatened (53%) [43%].
- 11% were assaulted (10%) [5%].
Full report: www.usdaw.org.uk/FFFReport2025
Crime and Policing Bill 2025: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3938
Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021: www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/6
Northern Ireland Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill
Usdaw’s Freedom from Fear Campaign seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against workers by engaging the public, shopworkers and the Government. www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Freedom-From-Fear
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion