Forces across England and Wales will now be given hugely increased resources to begin their recruitment to boost neighbourhood policing teams, helping to ensure that the Government’s target for additional personnel is met by 2029. This is a doubling of additional funding, increased from December’s provisional £100 million commitment.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This major investment marks a turning point for policing in this country. By doubling extra neighbourhood funding to £200 million, we are giving forces across the country what they need to put more officers and PCSOs [police community support officers] where they’re needed most – on our streets and in our town centres.
“Every neighbourhood deserves dedicated officers who know their patch, understand residents’ concerns and can tackle problems before they escalate. This investment, alongside new powers we are bringing into law, will help prevent crime and protect our communities, which is at the heart of our Plan for Change. Restoring local policing will not happen overnight, but this funding boost will get more officers into our town centres and rural areas.”
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “This is a welcome boost for our police forces after years of Tory underfunding that resulted in a huge retail crime wave. We urge local constabularies to ensure the extra funding is directed straight to community policing, so that there is a significant increase in uniformed patrols in neighbourhoods and town centres. Past underfunding has meant that too many incidents of retail crime and attacks on workers do not get a police response. We desperately need that to change, and today’s announcement is a great start.
“We have long campaigned, along with many retail employers, for substantial action to combat retail crime, and we are pleased that the Government will be introducing the Crime and Policing Bill, with measures to tackle this issue. In addition to the extra funding announced today, we now look forward to a much-needed protection of retail workers’ law; ending the indefensible £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, which has effectively become an open invitation to retail criminals; along with Respect Orders for offenders. It is our hope that these new measures will help give retail workers the respect they deserve.”
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
Crime in England and Wales: Police Force Area data tables:
Interim results of the Usdaw’s 2024 survey, based on 4,073 responses, show that: 69% were verbally abused, 45% were threatened. 17% of retail workers had been assaulted. Of those who were abused, threatened or assaulted, 70% said that theft was the trigger, and their assessment of the underlying issues was 64% related to a drug and/or alcohol addiction. The final results of the survey will be published in March 2025.
Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear Campaign seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against workers by engaging the public, shop workers and the Government. www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Freedom-From-Fear
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion