By Chantelle de Villiers, External Affairs Adviser 

With 115 shop workers attacked every day, it is little surprise that protecting employees is one of the key concerns of retailers, and something that we at BRC are proactively pursuing. 

And with the new Government firmly in place and committed to ‘cracking down on crime and serious violence’, there is no better time for us to generate momentum in Parliament and push for action to tackle violence and abuse towards shop workers. To that end, we are working jointly with stakeholders and members including ACS, Usdaw, NFRN and Co-op to drive change. 

As we wait for the Government to finally publish its response to the Call for Evidence, we have been working hard behind the scenes to add pressure to decision makers in the hope that the Home Office will outline a series of robust recommendations to address this growing problem.

We have been meeting with MPs to build a coalition of Parliamentary support, to use their platform to raise this issue and to push for action from Whitehall. Through our lobbying, we recently worked with Mike Amesbury MP to secure a Westminster Hall debate which prompted the Minister for Crime and Policing, Kit Malthouse MP to confirm the Home Office will respond to the consultation next month. In his words this will ‘be the start of action, not the end.’ The Minister also acknowledged the important role of the police and confirmed that the first new 6,000 police officers will be designated as territorial officers and will be out on the streets and able to respond to violent incidents.

As we carry out our own campaigning in the lead up to the PCC elections in May, the Minister will also be supporting us and will be writing to all PCC’s and Chief Constables to ask them to examine what is happening at a local level and to act accordingly when setting their policing and crime priorities. It is important that we all work together to use this opportunity to put retail violence firmly on the agenda of PCC incumbents and candidates, encouraging action at a strategic level.

Through our focused efforts the campaign has gained significant momentum in Parliament, demonstrated last week by Alex Norris MP when he raised this issue with the Prime Minister during Prime Minister’s Questions on behalf of Co-op. We hope this will encourage more Ministers including those in the Ministry of Justice to consider new legislation to keep our colleagues safe.

The countdown to the Home Office response next month begins and we will continue our work to hold the Government to account on this as much as possible. We will be hosting a joint Parliamentary Reception following the launch of our new Crime Survey to build more support from all sides of the House and to call for tougher sentences and an improved police response.

There are some great opportunities coming up in Parliament which will lead to the change we need. Over the months ahead, we will work with politicians to table amendments to the Serious Violence Bill, Employment Bill and bring forward a 10 Minute Rule Bill to propose much needed changes to sentencing law. 

We know that we have more impact when we join forces and ensure that local voices are heard loud and clear. With a united front and all parties working together, we will make sure that the Government delivers on its election pledge to crack down on violent crime, by starting with retail.