Overview
- Keir Starmer, speaking Monday to the Usdaw shopworkers’ union, pledged 3,000 extra neighbourhood officers, scrapped the under-£200 effective immunity for shop theft, and backed a new offence for assaulting retail staff in the Crime and Policing Bill.
- He said charges for shop theft have risen 17% in recent data and pressed for wider use of technology that lets retailers share CCTV with police in real time.
- Official ONS figures show shoplifting fell 1% in 2025 to 509,566 offences, while new guidance to record incidents with threats or violence as business robbery contributed to a 78% jump in those robberies to 26,158.
- Centre for Social Justice analysis of government data reports 67% of convicted shoplifters reoffend within a year and the average offences per offender has risen to 9.1, suggesting a core of persistent offenders drives much of the crime.
- Retailers are hardening stores in theft hotspots, with Greggs removing self‑service cabinets and adding police‑link software, as surveys show many shop workers face abuse and assaults that unions say the new offence must address.