Shoplifting

(asked on 8th June 2018) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to shoplifting data provided from police statistics on shoplifting on trends in the incidence of shoplifting in Lancashire over 2017-18, reported on by Onbuy on 25 May 2018, what support is given to retailers to counter losses occasioned by shoplifting; and what strategies are planned to reduce the number of shoplifting offences.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 18th June 2018

The analysis of shoplifting offences provided by the online retail marketplace, Onbuy, is based on reports of these crimes to the police. According to Police Recorded Crime data published by the Office for National Statistics, shoplifting offences increased by 13 per cent in the year to December 2017, compared to the year to December 2016.

The Government recognises the impact that shoplifting has, not only on retailers, but also on the wider community. We therefore encourage all retailers to report these incidents to the police when they occur, so that they can be investigated and, where appropriate, the offenders brought to justice.

At the national level, I co-chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group, with the British Retail Consortium. This brings together representatives from government departments, the police and the retail sector so that we can focus collectively on the crime issues that affect the retail sector. We have discussed different approaches to preventing and tackling shoplifting as part of the work of the Steering Group, to help to reduce both the incidence of these crimes and the costs of these crimes to retailers.

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