Shopworkers across the country will enjoy greater protection from the risk of violence following a request to the government by Stoke-on-Trent City Council leader Jane Ashworth.
Cllr Ashworth contacted the Home Office following a city council meeting where a motion was unanimously passed on retail crime. She wrote to the Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department, to recommend that she bring forward additional legislation to protect shopworkers.
The Home Office responded eight days later to confirm that Cllr Ashworth’s recommendations had been taken into consideration, and that the government would therefore be introducing a new standalone offence for anyone assaulting a shopworker.
In addition, the Home Office confirmed that the government will be ending the effective immunity for low-level shoplifting of any goods under £200.
Members at the full council meeting in September heard that retail crime has been increasing nationally, with a 35 per cent annual increase in crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. According to a 2023 report from the Co-Op Group, more than 175,000 incidents were recorded in the first 6 months of 2023.
The latest annual survey by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) also revealed that shopworker abuse is higher now than it had been before the Coronavirus pandemic.
The motion, which was moved by Cllr Diane Williams and seconded by Cllr Chris Robinson, asked the council leader to write to the Home Secretary to urge her to bring forward appropriate legislation, and also called for support from the city’s MPs on the issue.
Cllr Ashworth said: “The response by the Home Office was warmly received here at Stoke-on-Trent City Council and should serve as reassurance for retail workers across the city. For too long, retail crime has been increasing, and shopworkers have felt intimidated in their place of work when that should never be the case. This has been especially troubling due to the reduced punishments that criminals were previously facing.
“Moving forward, the new specific offence for assault on shopworkers means that those guilty of committing such crimes will face the full force of the law, and this will result in the number of incidents decreasing, thus making life as a retail worker much safer in the long run.
“We welcome the Government taking our recommendations on board, and it demonstrates that people are being listened to and that real change is happening which will benefit residents in our city and across the United Kingdom.”
