Parliament debates next steps to tackle retail crime after the Crime and Policing Act

Opening the debate, the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Customer Service, Chris Evans MP (Labour, Caerphilly) welcomed Government action to tackle theft from shops through the Crime and Policing Act, and highlighted campaigns by Usdaw, the Co-op Party, the British Retail Consortium and others. He went on to say: “Those policies (in the Crime and Policing Act) have been warmly welcomed by campaigners, who believe they will curb the rising violence and bring attention to retail crime. The voices of our three million retail workers are finally being heard, after too many years of being ignored. We cannot, however, expect those voices to fall silent any time soon. They now call on the Government to ensure that the measures introduced by the Crime and Policing Act are successful. Therefore, I ask the Minister to explain how success will be measured. What criteria will her department use to evaluate the policy and determine whether it adequately protects retail workers?”

Responding to the debate, Minister for Crime and Policing Sarah Jones said: “In the year before we came to power, there was a 30% rise in shop theft, and in the past year there has been a 1% fall. A 1% fall does not sound great, but when we compare it with a 30% rise, it shows that we are completely turning the tide.” The Minister continued: “We will measure what happens with the absolute numbers and the reporting of these issues, and whether people are reporting - whether that is through Usdaw or our links in the retail sector. We will measure it through the crime statistics and what is happening as a result.” 

Sarah Jones concluded: “With the number of police in our communities going up; with the new rule that all thefts under £200 have to be investigated; with the new tech, IT and AI that can help us read across all these different systems; with the law in place; with the police giving a strong message that we want to see people punished for abusing shop workers; and with the work that we are beginning to do on prolific offenders, hopefully we will increasingly see results. We cannot accept this as normal behaviour; it is not. We will not tolerate it, and we will keep working until we tackle it.”

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. So, we welcome the debate called today and MPs looking at the implementation of the Crime and Policing Act. 

“Retail crime continues to be a significant issue for the sector and, particularly, staff. Usdaw’s last survey found that this is in no way a victimless crime, with two-thirds of attacks on retail staff being triggered by theft or armed robbery. Having to deal with repeated and persistent offences can cause issues beyond the theft itself, like anxiety, fear and physical harm to retail workers.

“After many years of campaigning alongside retail employers, it now feels like we have a Government that is listening and taking action to give all retail workers the protections and respect they deserve. Once the legislation is enacted, we need to ensure that it is enforced by working with the Government, councils, police and retailers to raise awareness, improve reporting and the response to retail crime. We welcome the Minister’s clear determination to tackle these issues and the early signs that the tide is beginning to turn on retail crime.”