Figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, published today, show that shoplifting offences have increased by 37% (to 430,104 offences) compared with the year ending December 2022 (315,040 offences), and is the highest figure since current police recording practices began for the year ending March 2003.
The data follows the last release of figures from the Crime Survey for England in Wales in October 2023, which showed a 25% increase in theft on the previous year.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has given evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, highlighting the human impact of crime on local shops and the challenges retailers face when reporting crime to the police.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the announcement of a series of measures aimed at supporting retailers and their colleagues in the battle against violent crime and repeat offending.
The measures announced today by the Prime Minister include:
ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed a new report published by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, highlighting the ways that PCCs across England and Wales are engaging with businesses to tackle retail crime.
The report, published today, follows the publication of the Retail Crime Action Plan in 2023 which establishes how police officers should respond to shop theft and violent incidents in stores. All police forces have signed up to the Action Plan.
The UK’s local shops recorded a shocking 5.6million incidents of shop theft over the last year, smashing the previous record of 1.1m incidents recorded in the 2023 Crime Report.
The Association of Convenience Stores’ 2024 Crime Report, released today, outlines the scale of the retail crime crisis blighting communities across the UK. The report reveals that retailers have recorded over 600 incidents of theft an hour over the last year.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has shared findings on the extent of retail crime at a meeting of the Welsh Cross Party Group on Small Shops, chaired by Vikki Howells MS.
During the meeting, ACS highlighted the level of crime experience by convenience stores, including; shop theft, abuse and violence, and burglaries and robberies against retailers. The meeting also heard from Tenby retailer Vince Malone, who shared his experience of crimes committed against his business.
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is calling on Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales to share information about how their forces are planning to tackle retail crime.
The Stop Shop Theft campaign currently has information from 10 PCCs on how they’re delivering the Retail Crime Action Plan, how retailers can report theft, and the single points of contact for force areas. The PCCs that have engaged with the campaign to date are:
Earlier this week I attended the launch of Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber’s Retail Crime Strategy, and it was good to see some of our members there as well as senior police officers, other businesses and the media.
ACS has reiterated its calls to all Police and Crime Commissioners to prioritise shop theft as more Commissioners outline their plans to tackle crime in their local areas.
Earlier this week, Ben Adams, Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire met with Spar Retailer Julian Taylor-Green and ACS Government Relations Director Edward Woodall to discuss the impact of shop theft on Julian’s store and across the convenience sector.
