Local businesses and constituents are concerned about retail crime and I have spoken to Mark Cordell of the BID and the police about the issue. So I am pleased that the government has announced their Fighting Retail Crime plan. This is a new package of measures to tackle theft and criminals who attack retail workers.
This includes:
• A new standalone criminal offence for assaults on retail workers, with perpetrators facing being sent to prison for up to 6 months, receiving an unlimited fine and banned from returning to the shop where the crime was committed. Breaching an Order is also a criminal offence and carries a five-year maximum prison sentence. For the most serious cases of assault, offenders could face a life sentence.
• Expanding the use of GPS tagging for repeat shoplifters, a constant reminder to offenders that the Probation Service can find out where they have been, with the risk of prison time if they don’t comply.
• Investing £55.5 million over the next four years for the police to roll out facial recognition technology. Private businesses will also have the legal and regulatory clarity needed to use such technology themselves with confidence.
• Helping businesses report these crimes and prevent them from happening in the first place, with funding for a new prize to encourage the design of new crime prevention systems and bring retailer and insurers together to identify new ways of ‘designing out crime’.
I know that these measures will be welcomed by businesses across Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket.
