Baroness Hazarika asked: “Will the Minister agree that anti-social behaviour and crimes such as shoplifting, aggressive begging and phone theft are anything but low-level and can blight the lives of local residents and businesses? Many people who work in shops feel like they are living in a war zone. Will he agree that anti-social behaviour can so often be the canary down the coal mine and tells a wider story about what kind of society we are living in? Finally, will there be a focus on targeting often a small number of hardened criminals who are responsible for terrorising local residents and shops? Will the police and courts take this more seriously and consider the use of technology such as facial recognition?”
Policing minister Lord Hanson responded: “I am pleased to say to my noble friend that it is a “yes” to every point she has raised. Anti-social behaviour and shop theft are not minor crimes. They cause disruption in our communities. Shop theft in particular costs retailers across the nation millions of pounds, which is passed on to us as customers, and it is not acceptable. That is why, on shop theft, we are going to end the £200 effective immunity. For shop workers, we will protect them by introducing a new offence, because they are very often upholding the law in their shops on alcohol, tobacco and other sales, for us in this House.”
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “We very much welcome that Baroness Hazarika has raised this hugely important issue for our members. It is shocking that over two-thirds of our members working in retail are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence.
“After 14 years of successive Tory governments not delivering the change we need on retail crime, we are pleased that the new Labour Government announced a Crime and Policing Bill in the King’s Speech and all the measures that it contains, as set out by Lord Hanson.
“The Chancellor announced in the Budget funding to tackle the organised criminals responsible for the increase in shoplifting, and the Government has promised more uniformed officer patrols in shopping areas. It is our hope that these new measures will help give shop 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
Lords Hansard - anti-social behaviour and shoplifting - Monday 16 December 2024: https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2024-12-16/debates/1B7DD6B0-01BE-4FC0-80EE-DDEBD8DF5A74/Anti-SocialBehaviourAndShoplifting
Interim results of the Usdaw’s 2024 survey, based on 4,073 responses, show that: 69% were verbally abused, 45% were threatened. 17% of shop workers had been assaulted. Of those who were abused, threatened or assaulted, 70% said that shoplifting 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