The British Retail Consortium (BRC) estimated that there were 1,300 incidents of violence and abuse against shop workers a day in 2022. These are truly shocking numbers. We are facing an epidemic of shoplifting and violence against shop staff, and action needs to be taken. I have long supported calls for the creation of a new offence and tougher sentencing for assaulting a shop worker.
Retail workers provide a hugely significant act of public service in restricting the sale of items such as cigarettes, alcohol, and knives. This is important on a personal level, but also for society. I recognise that every declined sale is a possible point of friction, putting staff at risk, and too many have stories of life-changing injuries that they have suffered at work.
It is not only retail workers that this affects. I am concerned that large chains are having to decide whether to close their shops if they cannot protect colleagues. A big retailer leaving a community can have a huge impact on the high street.
My Labour colleagues laid an amendment at Committee Stage to the Criminal Justice Bill to make it an offence for a person to assault, threaten or abuse a retail worker. This amendment would have built on the campaign by USDAW, Tesco, the Co-op Group and the BRC in uniting workers and management, and retailers big and small. This would give police the tools to go after organised gangs and individuals who perpetrate abuse, and simplify the laws, making investigation and, hopefully, charge and conviction easier.
Disappointingly, this amendment was rejected by a Government majority. While we have made significant progress in previous legislation by securing an aggravating factor in sentencing for assaulting a public service workers, a proper offence has yet to be introduced.
I further support plans to tackle shoplifting gangs by removing the £200 limit on investigating shoplifting. I also want to see 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs on our streets, guaranteed patrols in our towns, and Respect Orders that ban repeat offenders from town centres. Everyone has the right to feel safe at work.