Speaking at the summit, Diana Johnson MP said: “There is no place for anyone who abuses shop workers and we are changing the law to come after the perpetrators and declare that the era of criminals acting with impunity is over. We know this is not a quick fix, but the blame for this unacceptable state of affairs falls at the feet of the last Conservative government.
“After more than a decade of Conservative rule, our high streets and town centres have been hollowed out. Ordinary people have lost the trust - abandoned hope - that the police will come when they are called, that the culprit will be caught, that they will see justice.
“Retail workers have been on the front line. They’ve seen the record high levels of shoplifting with their own eyes. They’ve faced the wave of abuse, threats and violence. It must stop.
“The era of criminals acting with impunity, built up through years of Tory rule, is over. This is a government committed to our mission for safer streets, for safer communities and for a safer Britain, and we have a plan to get there.”
It comes as a recent survey from the Usdaw union showed nearly a fifth of retail staff suffered a violent attack last year, almost half reported they had been threatened and seven in ten were verbally abused by customers. The minister outlined new action by Labour in government to tackle the wave of violence on shop workers, including:
A reversal of the Conservatives’ shoplifters’ charter: a category of ‘low-value shop theft’ to describe the theft of goods worth under £200, meaning the police would not routinely investigate crimes below this threshold.
Millions of pounds of new money to tackle retail crime: new money, announced in the Budget, to be invested in prevention, and training the police and retailers on specific retail-crime tactics to stop crime before it happens. An extra £5 million will be invested over three years to crack down on organised shop theft gangs. An additional £2 million over three years will also be spent in the National Business Crime Centre, providing a vital resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.
Tougher action against criminals that assault retail workers: Labour will legislate for assaults against retail workers with a new stand-alone offence. The change is supported by Usdaw union through its ‘Freedom From Fear’ campaign.
13,000 additional neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the street and a neighbourhood policing guarantee: to reverse the collapse in the number of bobbies on the beat under the Tories, the Labour Government will put policing back into town centres, high streets and communities. It will restore guaranteed patrols in retail crime hotspots and mean shopkeepers and retail staff have a named officer to turn to when nuisance comes calling.
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, says: “We very much welcome the minister’s speech today and are delighted to now have a Labour Government that has already included key measures in their legislative programme. We now look forward to a much-needed protection of shop workers’ law; ending the indefensible £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, which has effectively become an open invitation to retail criminals; and funding for more uniformed officer patrols in shopping areas. It is our hope that these new measures will help give shop workers the respect they deserve.
“It is increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order. This is in no way a victimless crime, with weapons and violence used to ensure these criminals are not stopped. Having to deal with repeated and persistent offences can cause issues beyond the theft itself like anxiety, fear and physical harm to retail workers. Interim results from Usdaw’s latest annual survey found that one in seven retail workers had suffered incidents of violence, threats and abuse that were triggered by shoplifting and armed robbery. Our members are clearly saying enough is enough and Labour is delivering.”
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
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 Twitter/X @UsdawUnion