Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Violence and Abuse towards the Retail Workforce

05 December 2023 · 7 other contributors · 8,569 words

Opened by Liz Twist Lab Blaydon and Consett

Responding minister: Chris Philp

Crime & Law EnforcementEmployment

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Liz Twist raised concerns about violence and abuse towards the retail workforce in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Retail workforce faces an alarming rise in violence, abuse, theft, and intimidation since the start of the pandemic.
  • Incidents of violence against shop workers have increased from 450 per day in 2019-20 to around 850 per day in 2021-22.
  • The minister confirmed several measures to address violence against retail workers, including commitments from police forces and improvements in facial recognition technology.

Key requests to Government

The government should create a specific offence of abusing or assaulting retail workers, scrap the £200 threshold for investigating shoplifting, and provide more neighbourhood patrols in town centres with additional police officers.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Liz Twist Lab Blaydon and Consett

The retail workforce is facing an alarming rise in violence, abuse, theft and intimidation. Shop workers report verbal insults, threats with weapons, physical assault, and fear of returning to work after witnessing violent behaviour towards them or colleagues. The issue has grown in severity since the start of the pandemic, with incidents rising from 450 per day in 2019-20 to around 850 per day in 2021-22. Only 7% of these incidents are prosecuted, leaving workers feeling unprotected and demoralised.

Other contributors (7)
  • Feryal Clark Lab Enfield North

    Ms Clark shared her experience working in retail and highlighted the increase in violence, threats, and abuse towards shop workers. She mentioned that there have been 300,000 incidents involving shoplifting, abuse, and violence in Co-op stores alone within a year. Additionally, she pointed out that serious organised crime is behind much of the theft and abuse, with retail workers often being attacked physically or threatened with weapons.

  • Fleur Anderson Lab Putney

    I went with USDAW to see shop workers in Putney and was surprised by the numerous incidents of violent attacks and intimidation faced by workers. I agree that making violence against shop workers a specific criminal offence would make things safer for them.

  • Gareth Thomas Lab Co-op Harrow West

    I mentioned violent and antisocial incidents towards shop workers in Harrow town centre. I asked my hon. Friend to encourage the Minister to allocate a dedicated town centre police team for Harrow, similar to other London town centres.

  • Jeff Smith Lab Manchester Withington

    Retail workers are facing increased verbal and physical abuse, with incidents doubling since 2019. Two-thirds of USDAW members working in retail suffer from customer abuse, and there has been a 25% increase in shoplifting over the past year. Retail crime is linked to drug addiction, yet treatment services have been cut. The reduction in police presence on high streets encourages criminal activity.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    I highlighted the severe fear and intimidation retail staff face, particularly from young people stealing items at night. I suggested that more must be done to protect their security, including panic buttons or immediate police access.

  • Navendu Mishra Lab Stockport

    I stated that violence and abuse against shop workers impact every constituency in the UK. I also noted that tackling this issue does not seem to be a priority for the Government Benches, with no speakers from there present. There are 9,000 retail workers in Stockport and over 523,000 in the north-west region. Retail jobs face issues like antisocial behaviour, violence, threats, shoplifting, with daily incidents of about 850. USDAW's survey reported that 65% of retail workers had been verbally abused, 42% threatened and 17.5% assaulted, including 4.8% in the past year. With significant police force cuts under Conservative government since 2010, the retail sector faces a perfect cocktail of failure due to legislative inaction and resource shortages. Mr Mishra intervened to ask the Minister for a commitment to meet USDAW, which is the sectoral trade union for retail workers. He emphasized the importance of acknowledging that low-paid retail workers are at the forefront of this crisis.

  • Steven Bonnar SNP Glasgow East

    Steven Bonnar highlighted the increase in retail crime and abuse, citing a Scottish retail crime report that found 100% of respondents experienced shop theft at least once daily. He noted a sharp rise to 70 incidents per day in Scotland compared to 45 before the pandemic. He also mentioned the economic toll, with retailers spending £715 million on crime prevention and customer theft accounting for £953 million out of a total cost of £1.76 billion.

Government Response

Chris Philp

The minister confirmed that retail outlets are crucial for communities and acknowledged the issue of violence against retail workers. He outlined several measures to address the problem, including a commitment from police forces to follow all reasonable lines of inquiry related to crime, improve facial recognition technology, prioritise attendance at incidents involving detained offenders, target prolific offenders using data analytics, and combat serious organised crime through Project Pegasus. The Government aims to double the use of facial recognition searches this year. Additionally, there is a statutory aggravating factor in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 for assaults on public-facing workers, including retail staff. The minister also noted an overall decrease in crime but acknowledged an increase in shoplifting and assaults against retail staff.

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