Hope for retail crime amendment to come into force soon

Tougher sentences for crime against shop workers may come into force in a few months, stated a recent report citing an industry source.

“I imagine the bill could become law in the next couple of months, but it depends how quickly amendments are agreed upon,” an industry source told betterRetailing last week.

“It’s a bit like a Christmas tree, in the sense that lots of amendments have been hung on it,” added the source. “This period of time is where a lot of points are discussed that don’t directly relate to the retail side of things.”

“I don’t anticipate there will be any problems to the amendments relating to protecting shop workers as they have been put forward by the government and don’t need any more backing,” said the source.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is currently going back and forth between the House of Commons and Lords.

In December last year, the government tabled an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, stating that assaults committed against shop workers should be recognised as an aggravating offence.

Policing minister Kit Malthouse wrote to the National Retail Crime Steering Group, which includes members such as the BRC and the ACS, confirming the Home Office had tabled the amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

The change will make attacking a retail worker an aggravated offence, resulting in tougher sentencing for offenders.

In Scotland, a similar law- The Protection of Workers Act 2021- came into force in August last year. In the first three months of coming into force, almost 300 cases of abuse against shop staff were reported to the police.

Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) said the data shows how the law “is much needed and that store owners and their staff are unafraid to use it”. SGF’s head of policy John Lee claimed that “every incident reported either having been investigated or under active investigation”, something which gives retailers “confidence that these crimes are being taken seriously”.