Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the levels of abuse towards retail workers in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

Abuse and violence against retail workers is unacceptable. That is why, through the Crime and Policing Act, we are taking decisive action.

The Act introduces a new offence of assaulting a retail worker, punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. Courts will also be able to ban offenders from specific retail premises. We are progressing implementation of the measures so they come into force as quickly as possible.

It must be matched by effective reporting, investigation and enforcement, which is why it sits alongside our wider neighbourhood policing and retail crime measures.

We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces so they can focus on tackling local community issues, like fighting retail crime, and we have already delivered more than 3,800 additional neighbourhood policing roles since March 2025.