The union has submitted evidence to the Home Office outlining the violence, threats and abuse faced by home delivery drivers and has the support of many retail employers in calling for the provisions to be extended. The Bill has passed all stages in the House of Commons and will now go to committee stage in the House of Lords.
As part of her comments when moving the second reading of the Bill, Baroness Levitt - Labour Justice Minister said: “Everyone should feel safe when they are at work. This Bill delivers stronger action to protect shop workers. Assaulting a shop worker will be a bespoke criminal offence with a presumption that the courts will, on conviction, impose a criminal behaviour order on offenders. We are also repealing the provision that treats low-value shop theft as a minor offence. Shoplifting is not minor, and we are sending a clear message that all shop theft should be taken seriously.”
As part of his response to the debate, looking specifically at extending the standalone offence to other workers, Lord Hanson – Home Office Minister said: “The issue closest to my heart in this Bill is attacks on retail workers.” He continued: “Shopworkers are upholding the law on solvent abuse, alcohol, cigarette sales and other things. There will be representations on other areas and we will have to examine those representations.”
Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “The Crime and Policing Bill includes a much-needed protection of retail workers’ law and we welcome the Government continuing to progress this important legislation. It was disappointing to hear the Conservative frontbench express reservations about ending the £200 threshold for shoplifting; while saying it doesn’t encourage theft, our members tell us that it absolutely is a green light for retail crime. Similarly, it was also disappointing that the Lib Dem frontbench expressed concerns about a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker, which perhaps misses how bad the situation is on the frontline, where around three-quarters are abused, threatened or assaulted every year. Usdaw has been a leading force on this campaign for over 20 years and we are pleased to have a Government that is finally taking action.
“The Minister confirmed they will consider representations and we would welcome the opportunity to make the case, along with retail trade bodies and employers, to further explore the protection of delivery drivers as part of the Government’s efforts to tighten up the regulation of the online sale of knives.”
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 trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Usdaw survey of over 300 retail home delivery drivers working mainly in the grocery sector; and employed by a range of companies including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Asda, Morrisons and Iceland; found that in the last twelve months:
• 77% had been a victim of abuse.
• 13% were assaulted.
• 26% had refused a delivery due to fear for their own personal safety.
Abuse is not part of the job for delivery drivers: www.usdaw.org.uk/430
Crime and Policing Bill 2025: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3938
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion