Overview

• Ministers will allocate £200 million to expand neighbourhood policing in England and Wales to increase patrols around shops
• A standalone offence for assaulting retail staff will bring tougher sentences to protect shop workers
• Legislation will remove the ‘summary-only’ restriction for thefts under £200 so more cases can be tried in higher courts
• A national Fusion Cell will centralise intelligence from police forces, retailers and security firms to disrupt retail crime networks
• The measures respond to a 20% rise in shoplifting offences during 2024, with annual losses exceeding £2.2bn and a shift towards both organised gangs and middle-class opportunists