The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has released a statement in support of the Crime and Policing Bill, which is progressing to the Committee Stage, following the Second Reading in the House of Lords.

The proposed Bill is a measure to mitigate the effects of retail crime. Figures published by the BRC in January showed theft reached an all-time high, with over 20 million incidents costing retailers £2.2bn in 2023/24.

Lucy Whing, Crime Policy Adviser at the BRC, said: “We are glad to be one step closer to the implementation of the Crime and Policing Bill.

“As the Government takes action to address retail crime, retailers hope this Bill will play a vital role in protecting retail workers from harm and tackling the surge in theft.”

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She added: “The Bill will remove the £200 threshold for ‘low-level’ theft, which will send a clear signal that all shoplifting is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. It will also introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker, which will increase sentencing and improve the visibility of violence against retail workers so that police can allocate the necessary resources to tackle this challenge.”

The amount spent on crime prevention was also at a record high at the start of the year, with retailers investing £1.8bn on measures such as CCTV, more security personnel, anti-theft devices and body worn cameras, up from £1.2bn the previous year.

With the total number of incidents growing, the BRC found that satisfaction with the police remains low, with 61% of survey respondents describing the police response to incidents as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

Whing added: “It remains unclear if the offence will cover delivery drivers, despite new figures from Usdaw revealing that more than three-quarters have been victims of abuse and over one in ten have been assaulted during the last twelve months.

“We call on the government to ensure that the final Act ensures the extension of protections to delivery drivers.”