Pensioners: Shoplifting

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Thursday 15th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I agree strongly with the noble Lord that it is extremely important that all offences are registered. That is a responsibility on shops as well as on the police force and on us as a community as a whole. We need to know the level and scale of the problem. I am pleased to report that there has been an increase in the number of arrests and prosecutions for shop theft over the past six months, and that is a direction of travel that I hope we can continue, because it is important that we address criminal gangs. However, if individuals are stealing because of alcohol or drug misuse or because of not being able to afford to live, those are other issues that we need to register, address and work with the rest of society to resolve.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

My Lords, there was a lot of public concern about the policy, which it seems that the previous Government were complicit in, that there would be an arbitrary threshold in terms of shoplifting before proceedings would take place. Can my noble friend confirm that that is totally against current government policy and that we will encourage police forces to prosecute in all such cases?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

In 2014, the then Government introduced a £200 threshold, which meant that police forces were, in effect, told to disregard shop theft below £200. I was the shadow Police Minister in 2014, and I opposed that measure. I am pleased to say that in the Crime and Policing Bill that will be coming before this House very shortly that £200 threshold will be scrapped. It might have taken 11 years to get to that position, but it is 11 years that have changed because there was an election victory on 4 July last year.