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<p>The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards
shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, as well as the loss to
the economy. The Government has been clear we expect a zero-tolerance approach to
retail crime and shoplifting.</p><p>It’s difficult to produce reliable estimates of
the cost of shoplifting. Many incidents do not come to the attention of the police,
so data on the number of shoplifting crimes recorded by them only provide a partial
picture. While official statistics from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS)
provide reliable estimates of the prevalence and frequency of shoplifting, the CVS
no longer collects data the number of shoplifting offences or the overall cost of
these crimes. When the CVS has collected this information in the past, retailers found
it difficult to recall precise numbers of crimes they experienced, and the associated
costs. As a result, these estimates we judged to be insufficiently reliable.</p><p>Home
Office ministers have not met Retail Against Crime. The National Retail Crime Steering
Group (NRCSG), which the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, the Rt Hon Chris Philp,
co-chairs alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail
crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives
from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and
Government departments.</p><p>At this forum, the Retail Crime Action Plan is a standing
agenda item. At the last NRCSG, policing colleagues updated me on the implementation
of the plan. Statistics published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show early
signs of progress. A dip-sample of data from 31 police forces of over 1,500 crimes
show police attended 60% of incidents reported by retailers where violence had been
used, with 16% of forces sampled reporting 100% attendance to this type of incident.</p><p>The
Government is supporting Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves
retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence
unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help
forces crack down on serious offenders.</p><p>The Home Office will continue to work
with members of the NRCSG, including policing and retailers to tackle shoplifting,
including organised, as well as other crime experienced within retail settings through
our wider work.</p>
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