Trade bodies welcome government measures to protect retail workers and high streets

The Crime and Policing Bill aimed at tackling retail crime and helping communities will be introduced in Parliament today and begins its journey to becoming law.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has “strongly” welcomed the introduction of the Bill. “We hope it will send a clear message that shop theft and assaults on retailers will be taken seriously by both the police and the justice system,” said James Lowman, chief executive of the ACS. “People running and working in shops deserve to be treated with respect, and we believe this Bill takes important steps toward that goal.”

Shortly after the news broke, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the proposed measures are vital steps in stamping out violence against retail workers, and getting a handle on shoplifting. “A standalone offence will improve the visibility of the issue so that police can allocate appropriate resources to the challenge, and to act as a deterrent to would-be offenders.

“The Bill needs to protect all retail staff working in customer facing roles, such as delivery drivers. Violence and abuse is not restricted to those working in stores, delivery drivers are equally subjected to abuse, physical violence, and threats with weapons. As a result, retailers are having to equip their drivers with protective measures, such as personal safety devices to alert the police of their whereabouts, and DNA spit testing kits. We hope to see this addressed as the Bill makes its way through Parliament,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC.

The Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD) head of external affairs Lyndsey Cambridge welcomed the Bill but questioned how it would protect retail workers outside of their stores.

“FWD appreciates the introduction of the stand-alone offence aimed at addressing the rising rate of retail crime, and recognises and appreciates the inclusion of wholesale premises that also sell directly to the public,” she said. ”However, the food and drink retail wholesale sector serves retail stores on a business to business basis and very few welcome members of the public. Their operational model focuses on issuing retail memberships in order to stock up in a cash and carry.

“As it stands, the current definition would leave retailers vulnerable when visiting wholesale cash and carries, when they are carrying out usual business activities outside of their primary retail premise. Car park crime is prolific in a wholesale setting, with the victims being retailers as they stock their vans or cars after replenishment. Additionally wholesale workers, like retail workers, are vulnerable to criminals targeting cash and carries which often results in abuse and violent attacks.”

Cambridge added that there are other factors to consider. “Furthermore, we are concerned with crime displacement, where criminal activities persistently target the weakest links in the supply chain. Retail crime spans across various supply chain stages, and we must avoid creating vulnerable points that could attract organised criminal groups.”

Elsewhere, Sarah Bird, head of local services at the National Business Crime Solution (NBCS), said she was pleased with a number of elements of the bill announcement today.  “We welcome the introduction of The Crime and Policing Bill and the measures it proposes around retail crime. The proposed offence of assaulting a shop worker would provide further protections for retail workers who unfortunately bear the brunt of crime while simply doing their jobs and serving the public.

”In addition, the scrapping of the £200 limit for shoplifted items would help to reduce the impact on retailers who are continually targeted by repeat offenders but are limited by current legislation. The retail sector deserves better and we hope this new bill will go some way towards achieving that.”

Finally, the Fed (Federation of Independent Retailers) says new measures to tackle assaults and theft in shops are welcome and long overdue. National president, Mo Razzaq, said: “For far too long, the failure to protect retailers and shop staff has undermined confidence in both the police and the criminal justice system. The refusal to attend incidents that are deemed as low value or to have measured insufficient ‘threat’ levels have left retailers frustrated, as repeat offenders seem to steal and threaten with impunity.

“This new bill is a step in the right direction. What we need to see now is action to stem the rising tide of crime against retailers and their staff. The Fed has met with and written to police and crime commissioners across England and Wales urging them to work with the police to ensure frontline neighbourhood police teams take this seriously.”