The term “shoplifting” is outdated, serves to trivialise the severity of the offence of shop theft and should be phased out, says a House of Lords committee.
Lord Foster of Bath, who as Don Foster was Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, chairs the Justice and Home Affairs Committee in the House of Lords. He has sent a 28-page letter to the Home Office minister Diana Johnson, setting out the findings and recommendations of the committee, which took evidence before and after the July general election. Among those giving evidence were, on the policing side in May, the peers heard from Detective Chief Supt Jim Taylor, Head of Opal at National Police Chiefs’ Council (interviewed in the July edition of Professional Security Magazine) and in September, criminologist Prof Emmeline Taylor and Sophie Jordan, Manager at the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships (NABCP, featured in the October edition of Professional Security magazine).
Lord Foster wrote: “Shop theft is seriously underreported and is not being tackled properly. There is a widespread perception that shop theft is not treated seriously by the police which the recent media coverage has served to highlight. The perception of an inadequate response to tackling shop theft risks undermining confidence in the police and wider criminal justice system.”
In last week’s Autumn Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced ‘additional funding to crack down on the organised gangs that target retailers, and to provide more training for our police officers and retailers, to stop shoplifting in its tracks’. The peers welcomed the Government’s decision, also touched on by Reeves in her Budget speech, to repeal section 176 of the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 ‘which in practice decriminalises shop theft where the value of goods does not exceed £200’, the letter noted.
On ‘chronic under-reporting’ of crime against retailers by stores, the peers recommended ‘improved reporting systems to expedite the process by which retailers can report crime to the police’. The peers asked that the Home Office’s funding for Pegasus should continue for at least a second year.
Among other, wide-ranging recommendations, the peers suggested that it should be compulsory for Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) to sign up to national standards for accreditation. On use of facial recognition by some in retail (as featured in the November edition of Professional Security magazine), the letter said that this ‘remains a concern and primary legislation embodying general principles and setting minimum standards is required’. As for the ‘supply chain’ of stolen goods, the letter also asked for regulations to make the selling of stolen goods on online marketplaces anonymously more difficult; such as by requiring online marketplaces ‘to collect, verify and disclose identifying information about high-volume third-party sellers’.
Shop theft has changed, the letter stated. “Broadly, the nature of the offence has evolved from individualised offending to relentless, large-scale, organised operations accompanied by unprecedented levels of violence. It is now seen as a lucrative profit-making opportunity which is being exploited by organised networks”.
Lord Foster said: “In March 2024, 443,9953 incidents of shop theft were recorded by police – a 30 per cent increase on the previous year and the highest-ever level since comparable records began over 20 years ago. But the figures are “a drop in the ocean” when compared with likely real figures estimated at 17 million with devastating consequences for businesses and families.
“The scale of the shop theft problem within England and Wales is totally unacceptable and action, like that under way in the Pegasus scheme, is vital and urgent.
“There’s no silver bullet. But, if adopted, the recommendations in our report should help tackle the problem and help keep the public and our economy safer.”
