Bill clamping down on retail crime goes before parliament

Labour’s promised Crime and Policing Bill, which includes tougher laws on retail crime, will be put before parliament on Tuesday (25 February).

The bill, which will mostly apply in England and Wales, contains over 50 measures including stricter penalties for shoplifting of items under £200 and making it a new offence to assault a shop worker.

It also contains new “Respect Orders”, which are reminiscent of the Anti-social Behaviour Orders introduced by the last Labour government before it was abolished in 2014.

The current laws deprioritise shoplifting theft under £200 and make it a summary only offence, meaning it can only be heard in magistrates court.

The British Retail Consortium warned at the end of last month that retail crime is “spiralling out of control” despite more being spent on prevention than ever before.

The trade body’s annual crime survey reported that violent and abusive incidents were up more than 50% last year, while retailers were reporting 55,000 thefts a day costing them £2.2bn last year.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “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.”

Currys COO Lindsay Haselhurst said: “On behalf of Currys’ thousands of store colleagues across the UK, I’m incredibly pleased to see the introduction of a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker, and the removal of legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence.

“The level of violence and crime our colleagues regularly face is unacceptable, and we hope these new powers for police will go some way in addressing that.”

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