Violence and abuse towards retail workers

Home Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 17 Dec 2020 Closed: 18 Nov 2024 Parliament page
Following the announcement that a General Election will be held on 4 July, Select Committees will be unable to meet from 24 May and will cease to exist from 30 May until after the General Election. This work has therefore closed The Committee carried out an inquiry into violence and … Read more
21 Recommendations
18 Conclusions
1 Report
3 Oral sessions
4 Letters
3 Events
Activity timeline 12 events
5 Nov
2024
Correspondence
22 May
2024
Correspondence
17 Apr
2024
Oral evidence
17 Apr
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
9 Nov
2022
Correspondence
9 Sep
2021
Report published
29 Jun
2021
Report published
7 Jun
2021
Correspondence
28 Apr
2021
Oral evidence
28 Apr
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
14 Apr
2021
Oral evidence
14 Apr
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Virtual meeting
Oral evidence sessions 3 sessions
17 Apr 2024
View on parliament.uk
Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman · National Police Chief's Council Chief Superintendent Alex Goss · National Police Chiefs’ Council Edward Woodall · Association of Convenience Stores Joanne Cairns · Usdaw Lyndsey Cambridge · Federation of Wholesale Distributors Paul Gerrard · The Co-op Superintendent Patrick Holdaway · City of London Police
28 Apr 2021
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Amanda Blakeman · Gwent Police David Jamieson · West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Dyson QPM · City of London Police Patrick Holdaway · Hampshire Constabulary
14 Apr 2021
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Iona Blake · Boots UK James Lowman · Association of Convenience Stores Joanne Cairns · Usdaw Paul Gerrard · The Co-op Tom Ironside · British Retail Consortium (BRC)
Title HC No. Published Items Response
First Report - Violence and abuse towards retail workers HC 141 29 Jun 2021 39 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
Clear
9 Recommendation Not Addressed
First Report - Violence and abuse …
Police guidance for retail workers insufficient to address perception of inaction on retail crime.
We welcome the guidance for retail workers on when to use emergency and non- emergency numbers when seeking a police response and, in particular, setting out risk factors which will help the police respond appropriately to incidents. However, we do … Read more
Government Response
The government details existing and ongoing work by the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) and its Task and Finish groups, including the establishment of two new groups on substance misuse and information sharing. However, the response does not specifically outline new actions to address the committee's concern about the perception that police 'don't care' about retail crime.
Home Office
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15 Recommendation Not Addressed
First Report - Violence and abuse …
Few Police and Crime Commissioners prioritise violence against retail workers in crime plans.
We strongly support calls for Police and Crime Commissioners to make action on violence and abuse towards retail workers a priority in police and crime plans. We are very concerned how few appear to have prioritised this in past plans, … Read more
Government Response
The government's response details funding for additional police officers and the Safer Streets Fund, which has been expanded to include commercial areas and has allocated funds to projects focused on commercial settings. However, it does not directly commit to the committee's specific recommendation for PCCs to prioritize violence against retail workers or establish related performance metrics in their police and crime plans.
Home Office
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16 Recommendation Not Addressed
First Report - Violence and abuse …
Require Chief Constables to improve monitoring, recording, and response to violence against shopworkers.
Chief Constables must do much more to demonstrate that they recognise the human cost of escalating violence and abuse against shopworkers. They need to ensure they have proper systems in place for monitoring and recording. Most importantly, they need to … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the current lack of mandatory recording for business crime and violence against shop staff due to data system challenges. It states that victims must report violence accurately and that existing sentencing guidelines already treat offenses against public-facing workers as an aggravating factor, but does not commit to the recommended actions for Chief Constables.
Home Office
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17 Recommendation Not Addressed
First Report - Violence and abuse …
Lack of neighbourhood policing capacity damages retail worker confidence and crime prevention efforts.
The lack of capacity in neighbourhood policing teams to build relationships with retailers, identify prolific offenders and respond swiftly to incidents of retail crime has damaged the confidence of retail workers. It has made it harder to maintain close relationships … Read more
Government Response
The government highlights its commitment to recruiting 20,000 additional police officers and the funding provided for territorial policing. However, it does not specifically commit to prioritising or ring-fencing these new resources for neighbourhood policing teams, as recommended.
Home Office
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Government Response AI assessment · 39 of 21 classified
Accepted 6
Accepted in Part 4
Acknowledged 13
Deferred 12
Not Addressed 4
Total 21 recs + 18 conclusions
Correspondence 4 letters
5 Nov 2024 To committee Letter from the Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention regarding violence and abuse towards retail workers 29.10.24
Parliament page
22 May 2024 From committee Letter to the Home Secretary regarding follow-up work in relation to the Violence and abuse towards retail workers inquiry, dated 22 May 2024
Parliament page
9 Nov 2022 From committee Letter to the Home Secretary on violence and abuse towards retail workers, dated 7 November 2022
Parliament page
7 Jun 2021 Analysis of survey results for inquiry on violence towards retail workers
Parliament page