Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the number of police hours spent on investigating shoplifting crimes in Bedfordshire in which the value of the goods taken was less than £200, in the latest period for which data is available.

The latest Police Recorded Crime figures showed 443,995 shoplifting offences for the year ending March 2024, an increase by 30% compared to the previous 12 months. Although the volume of charges for shoplifting rose by 47% in the year ending March 2024 (to 74,221 charges), shoplifting continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers when committing these thefts. The Government will not stand for this.

We welcome the National Police Chiefs Council Retail Crime Action Plan Fighting retail crime: more action - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) which includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel.

We do not hold the data for the number of police hours spent on investigating shoplifting crimes in which the value of goods taken was less than £200. However, through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200. We will also introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.