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Written Question
Shoplifting
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with police forces in England and Wales about their response to shoplifting, in the light of the Retail Crime Action Plan.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, as well as the loss to the economy. The Government has been clear we expect a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime and shoplifting.

It’s difficult to produce reliable estimates of the cost of shoplifting. Many incidents do not come to the attention of the police, so data on the number of shoplifting crimes recorded by them only provide a partial picture. While official statistics from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) provide reliable estimates of the prevalence and frequency of shoplifting, the CVS no longer collects data the number of shoplifting offences or the overall cost of these crimes. When the CVS has collected this information in the past, retailers found it difficult to recall precise numbers of crimes they experienced, and the associated costs. As a result, these estimates we judged to be insufficiently reliable.

Home Office ministers have not met Retail Against Crime. The National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, the Rt Hon Chris Philp, co-chairs alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and Government departments.

At this forum, the Retail Crime Action Plan is a standing agenda item. At the last NRCSG, policing colleagues updated me on the implementation of the plan. Statistics published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show early signs of progress. A dip-sample of data from 31 police forces of over 1,500 crimes show police attended 60% of incidents reported by retailers where violence had been used, with 16% of forces sampled reporting 100% attendance to this type of incident.

The Government is supporting Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.

The Home Office will continue to work with members of the NRCSG, including policing and retailers to tackle shoplifting, including organised, as well as other crime experienced within retail settings through our wider work.


Written Question
Shoplifting
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the loss to the UK economy because of shoplifting for each of the last three years.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, as well as the loss to the economy. The Government has been clear we expect a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime and shoplifting.

It’s difficult to produce reliable estimates of the cost of shoplifting. Many incidents do not come to the attention of the police, so data on the number of shoplifting crimes recorded by them only provide a partial picture. While official statistics from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) provide reliable estimates of the prevalence and frequency of shoplifting, the CVS no longer collects data the number of shoplifting offences or the overall cost of these crimes. When the CVS has collected this information in the past, retailers found it difficult to recall precise numbers of crimes they experienced, and the associated costs. As a result, these estimates we judged to be insufficiently reliable.

Home Office ministers have not met Retail Against Crime. The National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, the Rt Hon Chris Philp, co-chairs alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and Government departments.

At this forum, the Retail Crime Action Plan is a standing agenda item. At the last NRCSG, policing colleagues updated me on the implementation of the plan. Statistics published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show early signs of progress. A dip-sample of data from 31 police forces of over 1,500 crimes show police attended 60% of incidents reported by retailers where violence had been used, with 16% of forces sampled reporting 100% attendance to this type of incident.

The Government is supporting Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.

The Home Office will continue to work with members of the NRCSG, including policing and retailers to tackle shoplifting, including organised, as well as other crime experienced within retail settings through our wider work.


Written Question
Shoplifting
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Retailers Against Crime on the rise in organised shoplifting.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, as well as the loss to the economy. The Government has been clear we expect a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime and shoplifting.

It’s difficult to produce reliable estimates of the cost of shoplifting. Many incidents do not come to the attention of the police, so data on the number of shoplifting crimes recorded by them only provide a partial picture. While official statistics from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) provide reliable estimates of the prevalence and frequency of shoplifting, the CVS no longer collects data the number of shoplifting offences or the overall cost of these crimes. When the CVS has collected this information in the past, retailers found it difficult to recall precise numbers of crimes they experienced, and the associated costs. As a result, these estimates we judged to be insufficiently reliable.

Home Office ministers have not met Retail Against Crime. The National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, the Rt Hon Chris Philp, co-chairs alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and Government departments.

At this forum, the Retail Crime Action Plan is a standing agenda item. At the last NRCSG, policing colleagues updated me on the implementation of the plan. Statistics published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show early signs of progress. A dip-sample of data from 31 police forces of over 1,500 crimes show police attended 60% of incidents reported by retailers where violence had been used, with 16% of forces sampled reporting 100% attendance to this type of incident.

The Government is supporting Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.

The Home Office will continue to work with members of the NRCSG, including policing and retailers to tackle shoplifting, including organised, as well as other crime experienced within retail settings through our wider work.


Written Question
Detention Centres: Women
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the number of vulnerable women held in immigration detention.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The Home Office are committed to ensuring the proper protection and treatment of women, including vulnerable women, in detention and will seek to facilitate voluntary return as an alternative to detention and enforced removal. Further information can be found in published operational guidance DSO 06/2016 Women in the Detention Estate.

We fully accept that some groups of individuals can be at particular risk of harm in immigration detention. This is the basis of the adults at risk in immigration detention policy DSO 08/2016 Management of adults at risk in immigration detention, which strengthens the presumption against detention for vulnerable individuals.

Women who are victims of torture, trafficking or sexual violence are all covered by the adults at risk in immigration detention policy. Anyone who falls within the scope of the policy is regarded as unsuitable for detention unless the specific immigration circumstances in their case are considered to outweigh the vulnerability issues.

Plans are in place to convert Derwentside immigration removal centre (IRC) from a female only centre, into a detained facility for men, reducing female capacity across the existing estate.


Written Question
Asylum: Rwanda
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish details on the (a) level of financial and (b) other incentives his Department plans to offer to asylum seekers to encourage them to voluntarily relocate to Rwanda.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

Voluntary relocation to Rwanda builds on our already widely used voluntary returns scheme – details of this can be found at the following link:- Voluntary and assisted departures.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk).


Written Question
Delivery Services: Undocumented Migrants
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department holds information on illegal working via the use of rented profiles on food delivery apps.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The HO holds some information in relation to individuals who rent profiles on food delivery apps. However, we do not routinely publish the information you have requested and we are unable to provide this information, as it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
UK Border Force: Conditions of Employment
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Heathrow Border Force staff have been asked to accept new terms and conditions as part of the Heathrow Change Programme; and how many such staff are (a) women and (b) disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

No members of staff have been asked to accept new terms and conditions. All staff were given a range of options on which they could make the decision which best suited them.


Written Question
UK Border Force: Reasonable Adjustments
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Heathrow Border Force staff had reasonable adjustments before the Heathrow Change Programme; and what proportion of such staff were (a) women and (b) disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office do not hold the requested information on how many people working for Border Force at Heathrow prior to the Change Programme had reasonable adjustments, in an accessible format.


Written Question
UK Border Force: Staff
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people worked for Heathrow Border Force before the Heathrow Change Programme; and what proportion of these were (a) men and (b) women.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office would not disclose information which is considered likely to cause prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs.

Border Force staffing numbers can be obtained from the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023 (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
UK Border Force: Complaints
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many grievances have been raised by Heathrow Border Force staff in response to the Heathrow Change Programme; how many of these have been rejected; and what proportion of grievances were raised by (a) women and (b) disabled people.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office would not disclose information which is considered likely to cause prejudice to the effectiveness of public affairs.