The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed), whose members run convenience stores in towns and villages across Scotland, is calling on the next Scottish government to provide financial backing for up-to-date CCTV.
In the run-up to the May elections in the Scottish Parliament, the Fed is urging political parties to commit to grants for CCTV which can record better quality images and sound plus digital links to Police Scotland to make reporting easier.
Hussan Lal, the Fed’s President in Scotland, said, “Soaring theft, assault and abuse in shops is absolutely terrifying but many of our members can’t afford to upgrade their CCTV. Quite frankly many have systems which in 2026 aren’t fit for purpose. Small shops are burdened with higher costs such as energy and employers’ national insurance contributions. A £6,500 upgrade is simply beyond their reach.”
The Fed believes this concrete measure by an incoming Scottish government will curb crime, save police and retailers time and enable police to achieve a break-through in terms of successful investigations.
Mr Lal, who runs a shop in Paisley, said, “We believe an impression that crime is not being dealt with effectively appears to be one reason for a volatile electorate. There is everything to gain for political parties committing to obviously effective action.”
The Fed suggests the scheme is modelled on the Scottish government’s successful Business Energy Scotland scheme for small and medium sized businesses which is means tested. The costs would however be considerably lower than the BES scheme which offers loans of up to £100.000 and cashback grants of up to £30,000.
The most recent figures from the Scottish government indicate there was a 57 per cent increase in shoplifting over 10 years(2015–16 to 2024–25). It increased by 16 per centin the year leading up to 2024–25, from39,000 to 45,000crimes. Theclear up rate is just 49 per cent.
There were11 serious assaults of retail workers recorded under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 in 2024-25. There were3,169 offences recordedin 2024–25 of threatening and abusive behaviour of retail workers.