Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with suppliers of facial recognition technology and equipment on the use of live facial recognition surveillance in the retail sector.

Any form of retail crime is completely unacceptable, and I am determined to drive down crimes in the retail sector.

As I told the House on 19 July during the adjournment debate on retail crime, I encourage the innovative use of new technology including facial recognition, where legal and appropriate. It is for individual retailers to decide what tools to use to prevent retail crime.

I have met with companies which provide live facial recognition systems, to understand the service they provide and the impact it can have on preventing crime in retail settings.

Retailers hold a lot of information, intelligence and evidence that can assist the police; they should share information such as CCTV recordings to help police crack down on repeat offenders and criminal gangs across the country.