McIntosh Pursues Shoplifting Bill
Miss Anne McIntosh, MP for the Vale of York and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Thirsk and Malton, is today tabling an Early Day Motion to promote support for her Shoplifting Bill.
Miss Anne McIntosh said: “With an expected rise in shoplifting offences in the run up to Christmas, I am urging police to issue fixed penalty notices only in those cases of first time offenders in a position to pay where the value of goods stolen is below £100.”
“Otherwise I believe stronger penalties must be given, including community sentences where appropriate. However, I am shocked that the Government does not have figures for the number of community offences which are not completed, as outlined by the Public Accounts Committee in its recent Report on the Supervision of Community Orders in England and Wales. Community orders must be better applied – twenty-five per cent of the actions of criminals were connected to alcohol misuse, but only two per cent of criminals were given an alcohol treatment order.”
“In total, under fifty per cent of all community orders were served in full in 2007. Almost a quarter of all community orders failed to comply with the requirements. Clearly, community sentencing orders are not acting as a proper deterrent in these circumstances.”
“Today, I call for a strengthening of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidelines issued to the police to ensure that the issuing of fixed penalty notices reflects police judgement that the individual has the capacity to pay. I call on the Sentencing Guidelines Council to amend the sentencing guidelines to ensure that offenders with drink or drug problems are issued with sentences that recognise those problems and to ensure all community orders are served in full to enhance public confidence in their value as a deterrent. I recommend that the Government ensures that the Police National Computer is maintained and updated at all times for ease of reference by other forces. These changes are necessary to make sure that fixed penalty notices are used effectively.”