The Crime and Policing Bill has been brought before Parliament. As well as street crime and antisocial behaviour, it targets tackling shop theft and retail crime. The government describes it as “one of the biggest updates to policing for decades.”

Several parts of the Crime and Policing Bill are significant for local shops. The Bill scraps the effective immunity for shop theft of goods below £200. Additionally, the Bill makes assaulting shop workers a separate offence.

The new laws will be supported by the recruitment of 13,000 extra neighbourhood police.

Liz Evans, chief commercial office (non food and retail) for Asda, described the bill as “major step forward” in combatting retail crime.

“Recent interventions, like the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, will help us to directly tackle two significant challenges that we are facing as a business – incidences of assault and shoplifting are daily challenges across our estate, which have a devastating impact on colleagues and customers,” Evans said.

Crime and Policing Bill welcomed by convenience store sector

The independent convenience store industry has reacted positively to the Crime and Policing Bill.

“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,” said James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).

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

Elsewhere, the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) has highlighted the importance of making crime against shop workers a separate offence. They suggest it will allow more data to be gathered on the extent of the problem.

“At the moment any assault against shopworkers is recorded under a generic crime category which means it is difficult to assess the true extent of the problem,” said NBCC’s Lead Supt Patrick Holdaway, City of London Police.

“By recording violence against shopworkers as a specific offence, we will have a much clearer picture of how many incidents are happening and better understand the level of police and partner resources needed to tackle the issue.”

New Bill will need resources to be effective

Meanwhile, Dee Corsi, chief executive office of New West End Company also welcomed the bill, but stressed the need for resources. New West End Company is a business partnership of 600 UK & international retailers, restaurateurs, hoteliers, galleries and property owners in London’s West End.

“Today’s commitment from the government to enhance police powers to tackle anti-social behaviour and phone theft, alongside the scrapping of the counterproductive law that trivialised shoplifting of items under £200, marks a critical step forward in protecting our high streets,” Corsi said.

“The new standalone offence for assaulting shopworkers is a long-overdue measure that we and our peers in the industry have been calling for. However, these reforms must be backed by the necessary funding and resources for local policing to ensure that the public and local businesses feel safe and secure.”

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