Assaulting shop worker to become separate offence under Crime and Policing Bill

After years of relentless campaigning by retail sector, Crime and Policing Bill is laid in Parliament today (25), paving way for the legislation to create a standalone offence for attacking and abusing a shopworker and the scrapping of "effective immunity" for shop theft offences under the value of £200.

The Crime and Policing Bill is at the heart of what the government calls its "Safer Streets mission". Ministers want it to become law by the end of the year.

The Crime and Policing Bill is set to be backed up by the recruitment of 13,000 additional police officers. Measures outlined in the Bill include:

• The ‘effective immunity’ for shop theft offences under the value of £200 will be scrapped
• Assaulting a shop worker will become a separate offence
• Police will no longer need to apply for a warrant to search a premises where stolen goods have been electronically located
• Increased powers to crack down on repeat antisocial behaviour offenders, with new Respect
• Orders banning those prolific offenders from town centres
• Expanding police powers to drug test more suspects on arrest, helping direct more drug users into treatment and away from illegal drugs
• Creating a new criminal offence of possessing a bladed article with the intent to cause harm

In the year ending September 2024, police recorded one million incidents of antisocial behaviour. In the same period, they recorded over 490,000 shop theft offences, an increase of 23 per cent over the previous 12-month period.

Instances of theft from a person increased by 22 per cent, while there were also over 55,000 recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument.

Figures from the 2024 ACS Crime Report show that in the convenience sector alone, retailers recorded 5.6 million incidents of shop theft, highlighting a significant disconnect between the number of crimes that take place and the number that end up being recorded by the police.

The Association of Convenience Stores has welcomed the publication of the Crime and Policing Bill, setting out a wide range of measures aimed at empowering police forces and tackling crimes like shop theft and anti-social behaviour.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said, “We strongly welcome the introduction of the Crime and Policing Bill, which we hope will send a clear message that shop theft and assaults on retailers will be taken seriously by both the police and the justice system.

"People running and working in shops deserve to be treated with respect, and we believe this Bill takes important steps toward that goal.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP said: “This flagship Crime and Policing Bill is at the heart of our mission for safer streets and this government’s Plan for Change.

"For too long communities have had to put up with rising town centre and street crime, and persistent antisocial behaviour, while neighbourhood police have been cut.

"And for years too little has been done to tackle the most serious violence of all including knife crime and violence against women and children.

"That is why the new Crime and Policing Bill is about taking back our streets and town centres, restoring respect for law and order, and giving the police and local communities the support and tools they need to tackle local crime.”

ACS will be launching its 2025 Crime Report on 12th March 2025 at the Safe and Responsible Retailing Conference in Birmingham, outlining the current scale of theft, abuse and other crimes committed against the convenience sector.

The 2024 ACS Crime Report is available here: https://www.acs.org.uk/research/crime-report-2024