House of Commons
– Wednesday 14 May 2003
Shopworkers (Criminal Attacks)
15 May 2003
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That this House do now adjourn.-[Dan Norris.]
8.21 pm
Mr. Tom Watson (West Bromwich,
East): I am pleased to have secured this Adjournment debate to raise
the worrying and growing issue of criminal attacks on shop staff.
Thousands of workers in my constituency and some 2.7 million people
across the country are employed in the retail sector. So it is right
that we address the risks and abuse that they face.
I know that the Home Office does
not collect specific statistics on attacks on shop workers, but the
number of thefts from shops is on the rise. In the West Midlands
police force area, the number of recorded offences rose by 12 per
cent. in the past two years, from 17,891 incidents in 1999-2000 to
just over 20,000 thefts in 2001-02.
The retail crime survey published
by the British Retail Consortium gives an idea of the number of
attacks on shop staff. Last year, it found that 20,000 staff were
physically assaulted in 2001-a 40 per cent. increase in just over a
year. Some 28,000 staff were threatened, 68,000 were verbally abused
and many more incidents go unreported. Staff in small and
medium-sized retail outlets such as garages, newsagents and
off-licences continue to be more susceptible to attack. The BRC
found that 12 in every 1,000 staff in the small and medium-sized
enterprise sector were subject to physical violence compared with
seven per 1,000 staff for larger retailers. Small stores are less
likely to have security measures, such as CCTV and in-store guards,
but more likely to have staff working on their own, often late at
night.
Last year, a young manager at the
Lidl supermarket in the Hamstead area of my constituency was
viciously and violently attacked by a man with a baseball bat. Like
thousands of shop staff across the country, he was working late at
night with no security or support.
Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside):
Although I obviously accept that employers need to do much more to
protect staff, does my hon. Friend agree that they also need to put
more resources into training staff, especially in conflict
management techniques, so that they can defuse such situations
before they become violent?
Mr. Watson: I agree. Retailers
themselves have to take responsibility not just for the security of
the store, its goods and the contents of the tills but for their
staff, who are often vulnerable and to whom they owe a clear duty of
care. Obviously, training is a key element of that.
Under section 2 of the Health and
Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974, employers are obliged to protect
their staff against foreseeable risks. While many employers are good
at undertaking such duties, some do not take staff safety seriously
and many cannot afford to do so. Small, ill-protected businesses are
vulnerable, but large stores are targets for serious criminals. The
Safeway superstore at the heart of West Bromwich town centre, for
example, was recently the victim of an armed robbery.
We have to dispel some myths about
retail crime. First, it is not a victimless or faceless crime.
Shoplifting is not a harmless or inoffensive pastime, but is often a
14 May 2003 : Column 435
clear indicator of serial
criminality. Furthermore, two thirds of violence against shop staff
is committed by shoplifters caught in the act. A 45-year-old shop
assistant, for instance, was injured trying to stop a heroin addict
taking less than £100 from a till. Shoplifting is increasingly
linked to violence, substance abuse, street crime and truancy. It
costs £2.4 billion every year and is a crime not just against
businesses but against communities and ordinary shop staff who go to
work every day to earn a living and who often feel let down by
judges and magistrates. Retail crime has become an occupational
hazard. Violent thieves, aggressive shoppers and abusive customers
are making life a misery for retail staff. For too long, shop
workers and companies have accepted that behaviour as part and
parcel of the job.
That should not be the case. Staff
should be free to go to work without fear of being attacked or
abused. Under the leadership of Bill Connor, the Union of Shop,
Distributive and Allied Workers, which represents 320,000 retailers
in the UK, has highlighted the problems and risks faced by its
members day in, day out. Its "Freedom from Fear" campaign,
masterminded by deputy general secretary John Hannett, rightly
called for a zero tolerance approach to violence and abuse in the
workplace. Its charter of respect for shop workers, which aims to
provide safety and dignity at work, has already been signed by some
of Britain's leading retailers, including Sainsbury's, the
Co-operative Group, Littlewoods, Morrisons and Iceland, as well as
the British Retail Consortium itself. Its national petition has
attracted thousands of petitions in support of the campaign.
On 17 September, USDAW will hold a
national respect day, which I hope will become an annual event. It
is designed both to celebrate the vital role that millions of shop
workers play in the community and the UK economy and remind the
shopping public that shop staff are parents, friends, sons,
daughters, wives and husbands, not just faceless individuals on a
till. Shop workers are sometimes literally at the front line of the
retail industry. They keep our economy going and politicians,
employers and customers should recognise and respect that on 17
September. Will the Under-Secretary back the national day of
respect, and will he join me in paying tribute to the union for
fighting such a strong campaign on behalf of its members and all
retail staff?
Has the Minister had a chance to
read USDAW's report on shop workers' experiences of work-related
violence and abuse entitled "Voices from the Frontline"?
It does not make for easy reading. Julie Banks, an USDAW rep from
Walsall, recalls:
"One Sunday a manager ran out
and took a female member of security from the precinct. There was a
bunch of young lads pinching alcohol. They actually dragged the
security guard round the street and the female manager that came
from our store was helpless. She couldn't do anything, because if
she had tried to intervene they would have got her as well."
Julie goes on to say:
"To do your job to the best of
your ability is to please the customer, but some are so unreasonable
that you can't do that. And it upsets you if they start becoming
abusive, especially if there's no manager around. Usually if you
answer back or if you say anything, then they'll report you and
you're liable to get into trouble for it."
14 May 2003 : Column 436
Julie also tells of a 16-year-old
trainee who was slapped in the face by a customer because she was a
bit slow on the till.
Sadly, that old motto in the retail
profession, "The customer is always right", is no longer
true. On average, at least one shop worker is attacked every hour of
the working day. Almost half of those surveyed by USDAW reported
physical attacks or assaults on staff in the past 12 months, like
the security guards at a Tesco store in Oxford who were bitten by a
shoplifter who was HIV-positive, and had to spend months taking a
cocktail of anti-HIV drugs, or the 70-year-old newsagent's assistant
who suffered head injuries after he was beaten up during a raid in
Wolverhampton.
Nearly three quarters of staff have
been threatened with violence, like the cashier at a Thresher's
off-licence in Walsall, who was pulled over a counter and threatened
with a screwdriver by masked robbers, who made off with a haul of
cash, cigarettes and cans of beer. At one in four stores, threats
are made every week. Verbal abuse is a daily event in more than a
third of stores, most commonly when young people are refused
alcohol, but also when refunds cannot be given without proof of
purchase, and if there are queues at the checkouts or even stock
shortages. The legal duty to refuse alcohol sales after licensing
hours in 24-hour stores is also a common flashpoint.
Not surprisingly, the daily
onslaught of verbal abuse and the fear of violence is taking its
toll on the UK's shop workers. Stress-related problems are common
and include sickness and nausea, insomnia, headaches, stomach upsets
and clinical depression. Almost half of staff have taken time off as
a result of violence. The trauma and stress can last a lifetime, and
many staff are leaving the retail sector altogether because of fear
of violence and abuse.
The Home Office's British crime
survey shows that shop workers are three times more likely to be
assaulted or threatened than the average British worker. In its list
of jobs with the highest risk, retail sales managers came fifth and
retail cash desk or checkout operators came 13th. However, the
picture is not entirely gloomy. The way forward is collaboration
between unions, retailers, police, local authorities and Government.
Partnership has been proven to work on the ground.
Birmingham's retail crime reduction
partnership is one good example. Eight hundred retailers are signed
up to the scheme, with local police and the city council. By working
together, having safety in numbers and sharing information and
intelligence, small shops and large retailers alike have greater
strength in partnership than when acting alone. With the help of a
shared database of photographs, once an offender has been banned
from one shop, they can be banned from every store in the scheme, so
through a network and a system of support for local shops, criminal
activity can be deterred and town centres made more secure. Since
Birmingham's retail crime operation was set up in 1999, shop crime
in the city centre has fallen by a fifth and there are now fewer
than 2,000 incidents a year. That is still too many, but it is a
huge step forward in making the city centre safe and a more
attractive place for both shoppers and staff.
Retail crime reduction partnerships
certainly make a difference, but is my hon. Friend aware of the
business intelligence crime system? The BICS computer database
14 May 2003 : Column 437
is a key weapon against persistent
offenders. It collects, disseminates and uses retail crime
intelligence in an entirely new way to allow crime analysis by type
of store attacked, type of merchandise stolen and its value,
particulars of the offender's modus operandi, details of the day and
time of attack, and the name and aliases of the offender, together
with circulation of a CCTV or police photograph and any previous
retail crime history.
The BICS database has been
installed or is about to be installed in up 250 town or shopping
centres that have established retail crime reduction partnerships. I
understand that there has recently been a bid to the Home Office
from the British Retail Consortium to establish the BICS scheme
nationwide at a cost of just over £1 million over three years. Such
a database could link up information from tens of thousands of
stores, and allow intelligence on travelling offenders to be shared
across the country. The long-term benefits of extending BICS would
undoubtedly outweigh the initial outlay. Businesses would save
money, shoplifting and theft would be reduced and, as a result,
shopworkers would face fewer assaults and attacks. I hope that the
Minister and his Department will have an early opportunity to look
at the bid and perhaps talk to the British Retail Consortium and
USDAW about the project.
Will the Minister also give a
commitment to continue providing sustained funding for retail crime
reduction partnerships and other local schemes to prevent retail
crime? Simple though often expensive deterrents such as CCTV cameras
and security guards improve safety and security, deterring
shoplifters and protecting staff. Not leaving staff to work alone
further reduces the risk of danger. Retailers spent £750 million
last year on crime prevention strategies such as CCTV, alarm systems
and product tagging.
Together with local authorities,
the Government have also helped to increase the network of CCTV
cameras on our high streets and key trouble spots. For instance, the
£15 million CCTV funding for small retailers in deprived areas
announced by the Home Secretary in June 2001 was very welcome.
Improved security lighting, locks and gating schemes are also making
a big difference. I hope that the Minister can give an assurance
today that such financial support can be maintained and built upon
in years to come.
Retail crime is not an isolated
issue and it cannot be tackled in isolation. Since many of the thugs
who abuse, assault and threaten shop staff also commit other
offences, tackling retail violence will help in the battle against
other forms of crime too. The measures that the Government are
already taking to reduce crime, including street crime and
antisocial behaviour, should have a positive impact on cutting
attacks on shops and their staff.
A survey of experiences of crime
among residents in the Hamstead and Great Barr areas of my
constituency found, perhaps not all that surprisingly, that local
people want more to see police on the streets. That is a traditional
solution to cutting crime, but a visible police presence can often
be the best deterrent of all. In West Bromwich, East, we welcome the
Government's commitment to increase police numbers. We now have more
than 7,800 police officers in the west midlands
14 May 2003 : Column 438
area, and if current levels of
funding and recruitment continue, we can keep on expanding the
strength of the force. We are looking forward to the appointment of
the first 40 community support officers in the west midlands. Let us
hope that they will be the first of many, as they will help to
provide that very important visible presence on the streets and free
up regular officers for front-line tasks.
Partnerships, computer databases,
CCTV and more police on the beat are all key parts of the battle
against retail crime, yet we must not lose sight of how long-term
planning can make a difference too. When town centres are
regenerated, local stakeholders must work to ensure that tackling
retail crime and antisocial behaviour is a prime consideration.
My borough, Sandwell, is gearing up
for a transformation over the next decade. The centrepiece is the
exciting redevelopment of West Bromwich town centre-a project that
includes the recently opened bus station, the c/Plex arts centre, a
new Tesco superstore, a police station and a one-stop health centre.
We are trying to build so that the shopping centre and surrounding
areas are safer for those who live, shop and work there. Will the
Minister, together with his colleagues in other Departments, look at
collating best practice from those who are involved in the
redevelopment of town centres, so that innovative ways of reducing
crime through planning and good design can be shared?
This year's retail crime survey is
due to be published in less than a month's time. Indications suggest
that it will show that most injury is caused to staff who are trying
to detain shop thieves, that violent robberies are also on the
increase and that drug and alcohol-induced crime is on the rise.
That can only make more urgent the need to fund drug prevention and
treatment programmes. The figures will certainly make for
interesting reading, and I hope that the Minister will have a chance
to examine and reflect on the findings of the report when it is
published. Without doubt, it will show that Britain's shop staff
continue to face attacks, assaults, threats and abuse in the course
of their working day. To their credit, USDAW and the British Retail
Consortium are taking action on behalf of their members at a local
level and raising the issue with policy makers at a national level.
With the Government's support
tonight, we can say no to retail crime, abusive customers and
drunken and drug-fuelled attacks, and put a stop to the escalating
criminal attacks made on millions of our hard-working shop staff.
8.40 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State for the Home Department (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): I congratulate
my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) not
only on securing the debate, but on the work that he has done
locally and in association with USDAW-the Union of Shop,
Distributive and Allied Workers-on the issue of retail crime. Any
form of violence is totally unacceptable and should not be
tolerated, and everybody has a right to go about their work without
fear of physical assault or intimidation or verbal abuse. One cannot
underestimate the detrimental effect throughout the community of
crime against business and the damaging effect on people's lives,
14 May 2003 : Column 439
businesses and families. My hon.
Friend is absolutely right to point out that it is not a victimless
crime. Retail crime costs us all as customers-we pay for the costs
to business-and there is a hugely disproportionate cost for those
who face situations such as those described by my hon. Friend in
dealing with violent and abusive customers and others.
My hon. Friend is right to stress
the importance of the need to protect shop workers from criminal
attack. He highlighted USDAW's "Freedom from Fear"
campaign, which is meant to raise awareness of this issue. I have
recently corresponded with the deputy general secretary of USDAW,
John Hannett, on the matter and in response to specific concerns
that he has raised. I know that my hon. Friend tabled an early-day
motion on the issue.
Under the Health and Safety at
Work, etc. Act 1974, all employers have a legal duty to ensure, so
far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of
their employees. That duty includes risks arising from violence at
work. The Health and Safety Executive encourages employers to manage
work-related violence. It has published a general guidance,
"Violence at work: a guide for employers", to help them
tackle work-related violence in accordance with their duties under
the law. The HSE has also published specific guidance for the retail
sector, "Preventing violence to retail staff", which
provides practical guidance for retailers and their staff on how the
problems and causes of violence might be tackled, setting out an
approach that can be adopted as everyday practice.
Under the three-year programme to
help employers tackle workplace violence, the HSE has published new
guidance entitled, "Work-related violence: managing the risk in
smaller businesses", which is designed to help smaller
businesses manage the risk of work-related violence. It has
commissioned research to find examples of good practice in
preventing and managing violence to lone workers-my hon. Friend
pointed out how vulnerable people often are in smaller
establishments-and funded the development of the new occupational
standards in managing work-related violence to provide employers
with a sound framework on which to develop detailed policies on
work-related violence. The HSE held a major joint conference with
the TUC last December to raise awareness of violence in the
workplace and to share good practice. The deputy general secretary
of USDAW, John Hannett, spoke at that event.
My hon. Friend mentioned the scheme
that was announced by the Home Secretary and the allocation of £15
million to improve security for small retailers in deprived areas.
That funding has been provided to make security improvements to
individual shops and shopping parades and to help local shops tackle
crime and disorder problems on their doorstep. We helped more than
3,000 shops in the first year and 4,500 shops
14 May 2003 : Column 440
in the second year. With the £6
million that we shall allocate in this financial year, we hope to
provide help for a further 5,500 shops.
We also continue to support retail
crime reduction partnerships, which we helped to establish. Several
regional Home Office directors have provided specific support in
their regions to help them play their full part in crime reduction
work. It is understandable that those partnerships have tended to
focus on excluding offenders from major retail centres. Although
that successfully reduces the incidence of shop theft and violence
against shop customers, it does not necessarily have the impact that
we would like on tackling the causes of crime. We are currently
exploring the possibility of a pilot project to extend schemes to
exclude shoplifters from shopping centres and include access to drug
treatment, which is often involved in such cases.
It may be an opportune time to take
the partnership work forward and examine some other issues, such as
the usefulness of the database. Perhaps a meeting should be held
with the British Retail Consortium and USDAW to explore ways in
which to develop the partnerships. I know that my right hon. Friend
the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) was especially keen
to try to develop that aspect of the work and to look beyond the
immediate towards a preventive framework. If we can link retail
partnerships' information with the preventive work that we are
expanding in the updated drugs strategy, perhaps we can have a
genuine impact on continuing violence.
My hon. Friend the Member for West
Bromwich, East mentioned the day of respect. We are considering a
genuine problem. Not only retail staff but some workers in the
public sector face a complete disregard for their safety and a
general lack of respect from elements of our society. Every day
should be a day of respect. If the day that is requested will help
to hammer home the message, it is worth supporting. I have read the
pamphlet, "Voices from the Frontline". My hon. Friend is
right that the catalogue of appalling examples does not make
comfortable reading. It is sometimes necessary for organisations to
produce such pamphlets to try to illustrate and make people aware of
such appalling situations.
We can do a lot in partnership. I
have spoken to representatives of the British Retail Consortium and
USDAW separately and together over a period of time. I know that my
hon. Friend has also done that. We need to try to develop that
relationship and get the most out of the partnerships to evaluate
all the potential working practices and best practice around the
country. I know that my hon. Friend will be keen to follow up those
ideas. I am more than happy to try to facilitate that after this
evening's debate.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at eleven
minutes to Nine o'clock.
|
