Retail associations across England have welcomed the Home Affairs Committee report which urges the government to come up with stronger policing responses to tackle violence and abuse against shopworkers.
Calling the UK government to consult on the scope of a new standalone criminal offence to protect retail workers from unacceptable violence and abuse, the report also recommends expansion of neighbourhood policing teams who can rebuild relationships with retailers, proper recording of violence against shop workers, and Safer Streets Fund resources to support measures on high streets and retail settings.
While the committee’s report highlights the need for renewed focus on the causes of retail crime, including organised crime and drug addiction, it is also acknowledged by the committee that the patchwork of existing offences for crime against shop workers is not adequate to address the escalating nature of these crimes.
The committee’s report and its recommendations have been welcomed by all the major associations across the country with many of them hailing it as a “landmark” moment.
Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) chief executive James Lowman said the report should form the blueprint for tackling retail crime and violence against retailers, adding that the report has rightly identified the measures to improve police response and the courts treatment of repeat offenders.
“Existing powers, structures and legislation are not working. We need meaningful change, and the government should adopt all the committee’s recommendations,” Lowman said.
Stuart Reddish, national president of the Federation of Independent Retailers (NFRN), commented: “The Home Affairs Committee’s report merely reiterates what we have been telling the government repeatedly for years.
“Incidents of verbal abuse and physical attacks have become a daily occurrence for millions of shop workers and have increased dramatically during the Covid pandemic.”
Highlighting how other frontline workers, such as the emergency services and customs officers, are quite rightly given extra protection by the law in recognition of the service they provide to the public and the responsibility placed upon them, Reddish further added that shop workers are just “as much in the firing line and deserve the same level of protection from the law and an appropriate response from the police”.
Responding to the report’s recommendations, Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: “The report rightly acknowledges the scale of the issue, and we are pleased to see that it calls on the government to urgently consult on a new criminal offence. The BRC has been long calling for a new statutory offence for abusing, threatening or assaulting a shop worker. An offence would impose tougher penalties on perpetrators and send a clear message that these incidents will not be tolerated.”
Claiming that shop workers have suffered for far too long as they suffer over 450 incidents of violence and abuse every day, despite spending record sums of £1.2 billion on crime prevention, Dickinson pointed out how the retail staff have been verbally and violently assaulted, as well as spat at and coughed on for challenging shoplifters, enforcing age-restricted sales and implementing coronavirus safety measures.
“We hope this report will prompt the government to finally do what is necessary to protect retail staff from harm across the country and stop dragging its feet – this could be achieved through an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is currently going through parliament,” Dickinson said.
Trade union Usdaw has also welcomed the report from the cross-party committee of MPs, adding that they hope an amendment to the government’s flagship crime bill will be debated and voted on next Monday 5 July.
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said: “We very much welcome this wide-ranging and comprehensive report by the select committee, which shows that MPs have listened to our members on the frontline and to voices from across the retail industry. With almost 90 per cent of sho pworkers suffering abuse, two-thirds threatened and nearly one in ten assaulted; retail workers, their friends, family and loved ones, are saying loud and clear that enough is enough, abuse should never be just a part of the job.”
Urging for a simple stand-alone offence for assaulting a retail worker to encourage prosecutions and provide the deterrent effect, Lillis further said that the report is sending a clear message that assaulting or abusing someone working to serve the public is totally unacceptable. Referring to the report’s recommendations that support a better police response, Lillis said that Usdaw is ready to engage with the police, local authorities and employers to make a success of these measures.
“When retail employers, leading retail bodies and the shop workers’ trade union jointly call for legislation, it is time for the government and MPs to listen. In Scotland, MSPs voted through a new ground-breaking law to give shop workers the protection they deserve. We are now looking for MPs to support key workers across the retail sector and help turn around the UK Government’s opposition,” Lillis said.
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