Proposed new laws will introduce stricter punishments for shoplifting and provide greater protection for retail employees.
The Crime and Policing Bill, launched this month, aims to protect the public and town centres from antisocial behaviour, retail crime, and shop theft.
Part of the government’s plans to revitalise the UK’s high streets, the bill is estimated to cost almost £50 million a year to enforce.
Read on for more information about how the new laws could work and when they might be introduced.
Shoplifting crackdown on the way?
One of the proposed changes included in the Crime and Policing Bill is to repeal section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, which downgraded low-value shop theft to a ‘non-serious’ crime.
This means that there could be stricter penalties for shoplifting of items worth under £200.
The proposed new laws come at a time when retailers are feeling the impact of shoplifting more than ever. Official figures show that there were 443,995 shoplifting offences in the year ending March 2024 – a 30 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, budget retailer Poundland recently launched a range of anti-shoplifting measures after it lost more than £40 million of stock last year due to crime.
Simply Business research from 2023 found that shoplifting was a problem for half of shop owners. Almost a fifth of (16 per cent) had lost between £1,001-£5,000 due to theft, while over half (57 per cent) had lost over £250.
Read more: How to protect your shop from shoplifters
More protection for shop workers
The bill also includes proposals to give more protection to retail workers. It’ll become an offence to assault a retail worker.
Official figures show that more than one in 10 shops (12 per cent) in England and Wales experienced assaults or threats against staff or customers between 2023 and 2024.
It’s proposed that anyone who assaults a shop worker could be imprisoned for six months and handed an unlimited fine. They’ll also be banned from entering the shop where they committed the offence.
When could the new laws come into force?
The bill was introduced to Parliament on 25 February 2025 and passed its first reading. It will then need to pass through a second reading, committee stage, report stage, and third reading in the House of Commons.
After that, it will need to pass through the same process in the House of Lords, before any final amendments and royal assent, which is when it officially becomes law.
There’s no provisional date of when the bill could become law. However, it’s likely to get strong cross-party support in the House of Commons so could come into force later in 2025 or early 2026.
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