Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has held with representatives of retail sector employees on the adequacy of measures to tackle physical assaults in the workplace.

I regularly co-chair, with the British Retail Consortium, the National Retail Crime Steering Group which brings together Government, trade organisations, representatives of the retail sector and enforcement partners to ensure the response to crimes affecting the retail sector is a partnership approach and as robust as it can be.

I have also recently been convening additional meetings with retailers and police, to discuss how we can tackle the issue of retail crime, including assaults.

As part of a roundtable with policing and retailers, on 23 October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council launched their Retail Crime Action Plan, which includes a police commitment to prioritise attending the scene of retail crime instances where violence has been used; where an offender has been detained; or where evidence needs to be promptly secured and can only be done in person by police personnel.