ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is calling on retailers to fill in an online template to help them respond to the Home Office’s call for evidence on violence and abuse against shop staff.
The call for evidence asks for individuals and organisations to contribute to enable the Government to understand the scale and nature of violence against retailers and shop staff. The call for evidence seeks data on violence and abuse toward shop workers, including the extent to which incidents are linked to age-restricted sales of products like cigarettes and alcohol.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We are encouraging all retailers who have been affected by violence and abuse in our sector to take this opportunity make their voices heard by the Government about the true impact that these incidents have on their staff and stores.
“Our online template features key questions from the call for evidence and should only take around ten minutes or so for you to complete but will be essential in representing the extent and effect of violence and abuse on our sector. There is never an excuse for violent or abusive behaviour against retailers or their staff and it is important that it isn’t normalised or trivialised.”
The online template is available here and ACS will be submitting the responses to the Home Office on behalf of retailers. ACS is also encouraging retailers to send responses to the call for evidence and accounts of their experiences of violence direct to the Home Office. The deadline for responses is 28th June 2019. If you have any further questions, please email Eleanor.O’[email protected] or call 01252 515001.
More details on the call for evidence are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence.
