Tag: Home Office

The press release issued by the Home Office on 22 April 2024.

The government has announced measures making it easier for police to apply for stalking protection orders, meaning more victims will be protected earlier.

It will be easier for police to protect victims and apply for a stalking protection order at the earliest opportunity under new plans announced today (Monday 22 April) by the Minister for Victims and Safeguarding, marking the first day of National Stalking Awareness Week.

Under updated statutory guidance, published today, police officers are instructed that they will no longer need to meet the high criminal standard of proof threshold in order to apply for a stalking protection order. Instead evidence which meets the lower civil standard will likely be accepted by courts to apply a stalking protection order.

Stalking protection orders were introduced in January 2020 and protect victims by addressing the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched or become more severe.

Under the orders, perpetrators can face restrictions such as having to notify the police of their whereabouts or travel. If breached, an individual faces prison time of up to 5 years.

Minister for Victims and Safeguarding, Laura Farris said:

Stalking is a complex form of abuse, and it can have a devastating impact on the lives of victims and their families. Sadly, it can end in the most tragic circumstances.

We must continue to treat stalking with the utmost gravity. Having doubled the maximum sentence and introduced a new civil order to protect victims, we know there is more we must do.

Lowering the standard of proof that must be met to grant these orders will make a big difference to how easily victims can access protection. I will continue to work closely with the police to improve how they can support victims of this disturbing crime.

In recognition of the impact of public sexual harassment on victims, especially women, the government backed the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023, which introduces a specific offence for public sexual harassment.

The new offence, which will see perpetrators face up to 2 years in jail, will come into force from 1 October 2024.

To mark National Stalking Awareness week, the minister visited the Suzy Lamplugh trust to see the vital support given to stalking victims, including the National Stalking Helpline, which the Home Office funds with over £160,000 annually. This enabled them to answer more than 8,000 calls and emails from or relating to victims of stalking between April 2023 and March 2024.

In-keeping with the week’s theme of ‘multi-agency working’, the Home Office will work with criminal justice agencies such as the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and College of Policing to consider the findings of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s super-complaint into the police’s handling of stalking cases.

Together with the agencies, the government will formulate a multi-agency response to any recommendations when they are published in the summer.

Emma Lingley-Clark, Interim CEO of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said:

We welcome announcements from government that they are updating statutory guidance on Stalking Protection Orders (SPO) to instruct police officers that they will no longer need to meet the higher criminal standard of proof threshold in order to make an application. We know that this requirement can act as a barrier to victims getting immediate protection when they need it the most. However there is an urgent need to increase the use of SPOs across the country and improve understanding amongst police officers given the extremely low uptake and lack of knowledge within police forces currently. Every victim should have the opportunity to access an SPO when they choose to report stalking to the police.

NPCC’s Lead for Stalking and Harassment, Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills, said:

Stalking is a highly impactive crime, which leaves victims fearful of what their stalker may do next. Without appropriate intervention and safeguarding, the potential for the risk to victims to escalate quickly is very real.

It’s important that within policing, and as a society, we recognise the patterns of stalking and acknowledge the risk that it poses to victims.

The police service is continuing to work hard to improve and standardise its response to stalking. Over the last number of years we have improved training, rolled out the use of Stalking Protection Orders and launched a new assessment tool to assist officers to identify and better act upon the signs of stalking. In addition, we have introduced embedding dedicated officers in forces to better support and safeguard victims.

However, we know that there is more to do to improve criminal justice system outcomes for victims in these cases and ensure a consistent response in all cases of stalking. We continue to work with partners, other agencies and charities to bring about these important changes.

Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Olivia Rose, national lead for stalking at the CPS, said:

Stalking impacts so much of a victim’s life, and our prosecutors carefully consider this alongside the evidence available when they’re building a robust case.

We take this offending seriously, identifying relevant protective orders and assessing whether a new offence has been committed if an order is breached. This provides added protection for victims, as it enables the court to consider the totality of offending when sentencing and to issue focused protective orders.

The CPS remains focused on bringing offenders of stalking to justice and driving improvements in these cases, which often involve violence against women and girls.

Kathleen Spencer Chapman, Director of Communications, Advocacy and UK Programmes at Plan International UK, says:

The government’s announcement that the law to tackle public sexual harassment will become legally enforceable from 1 October, alongside new measures to better protect victims of stalking, is a significant milestone towards making the UK’s streets safer for girls and women. It’s thanks to all the girls who have shared their stories and tirelessly campaigned that these stronger protections for harassment survivors are being implemented.

Public sexual harassment is an everyday reality for girls, that restricts their freedom and impacts their mental health. Girls have a right to feel safe wherever they are, and we hope this new offence will change how public sexual harassment is dealt with by the police, in our courts and in public, giving girls the route to justice they expect and deserve and helping change the attitudes that make too many perpetrators feel they can harass without consequences.

While there is more to do, this is the latest in a series of actions the government has taken to tackle stalking and harassment and protect victims.

In 2012, we created two new stalking offences in order to highlight stalking as a specific behaviour. Through the Policing and Crime Act 2017 the maximum sentences for the most serious harassment and stalking were increased from 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Our landmark Online Safety Act also includes stalking offences in the list of specified ‘priority offences’. Priority offences represent the most serious and prevalent illegal content and activity online, and companies will need to take proactive steps to tackle such content, for example preventing users from encountering it.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 22 April 2024.

The UK is to become the first country in the world to proscribe the Terrorgram collective after a draft proscription order has been laid against the group in Parliament today (22 April), the Home Secretary has confirmed.

The Terrorgram collective is an online network of neo-fascist terrorists who produce and disseminate violent propaganda to encourage those who consume its content to engage in terrorist activity.

If agreed by Parliament, the order will come into effect on 26 April. This means that it will be a criminal offence to belong to, invite support for, or in certain circumstances, display articles associated with the network. Certain proscription offences can be punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said:

The Terrorgram collective spreads vile propaganda and aims to radicalise young people to conduct heinous terrorist acts. This is why we are outlawing membership or support for the group – we will not tolerate the promotion or encouragement of terrorism in the United Kingdom.

It will become the first online terrorist network to be proscribed, alongside 80 other Extreme Right-Wing and Islamist organisations, as we continue to disrupt and outlaw terrorist groups to protect the British people.

The UK is the first country to proscribe this organisation, demonstrating the government’s commitment to tackle Extreme Right-Wing terrorism and online radicalisation in all forms. It also showcases the ability of the proscription tool to be applied to an online terrorist network, and is the first time it has been used in this way.

Following an internal review, the term ‘Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism’ was adopted as the umbrella term to make it clear that those who hold mainstream right-wing views will not be in scope of any action by counter-terrorism authorities.

The Terrorgram collective glorify attacks committed by neo-fascist terrorists, who they consider to be ‘saints,’ and encourage replication of such heinous attacks including by disseminating instructional material to help others prepare to commit acts of terrorism.

In addition to the proscription offences, several other Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT) offences continue to apply to terrorist offending online. For example, section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 makes it a criminal offence for a person to collect or possess information, or to view it online, which is likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing for acts of terrorism.

The Terrorgram collective is the 6th extreme right-wing group to be proscribed, standing alongside 75 groups proscribed for extreme Islamist or other ideologies, and 14 Northern Ireland-related groups. It also subscribes to militant accelerationist and neo-fascist ideologies, notably pursuing the collapse of the Western world and a ‘Race War’ through violent acts of terrorism, and often seeks to target young individuals to adopt their ideology.

They have previously published propaganda material designed to incite violence against ethnic and religious communities, with calls for antisemitic violence. Their propaganda also contains violent narratives that glorified the perpetrator of the 2022 Slovakia attack at a LGBTQ+ nightclub shooting, which resulted in the death of 2 people, who credited Terrorgram and its publications in his manifesto.

Whilst Islamist-inspired terrorism continues to represent the greatest terrorist threat to UK interests, the threat from Extreme-Right Wing Terrorism is growing and evolving, particularly through the radicalisation of increasingly younger individuals from dangerous online content.

Proscription grants Counter Terrorism Policing the power to compel tech companies and social media platforms to remove or block the organisation’s online content for UK users, which will be now illegal.

It is also illegal under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 to disseminate terrorist publications including circulating, selling, or transmitting a terrorist publication online.

Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:

The Terrorgram collective is a dangerous neo-fascist organisation that actively encourages and promotes terrorist activity.

We must do everything in our power to deter and limit the reach of hateful and terrorist ideologies, and to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Proscribing the Terrorgram collective will do just that.

The government will always use the breadth of tools available to tackle online terrorist content. The Home Office works closely with tech companies to ensure they uphold their legal obligations with regards to removing illegal terrorist content.

The Terrorgram collective will become the 81st group to be proscribed by the UK, including ISIS, National Action and the recently proscribed Wagner Group and Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 18 April 2024.

Home Office criminal and financial investigators arrested 4 suspected people smugglers.

Four men have been arrested after a nationwide crackdown on a network suspected of smuggling migrants into the UK by air, land and sea.

Home Office teams carried out dawn raids at addresses across the country yesterday (Wednesday 17 April), detaining the suspects for further questioning.

Addresses were targeted in Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Southampton and Stockport as Immigration Enforcement officers swooped on figures involved with the prolific people smuggling network. Those arrested are of British and Kurdish nationality.

The men are believed to be responsible for dozens of attempts to bring people into the UK illegally, via commercial airline flights, hidden in cars and on ferries.

As many as 50 people are thought to have entered the UK illegally since 2022 via this criminal network. The migrants are predominantly Kurdish and Vietnamese nationals.

The group’s operations are believed to have spanned Europe, with smuggling attempts taking place across the UK’s borders with the Republic of Ireland and France.

Intelligence suggests the suspects have been supplying and manufacturing false travel documents, including passports, national identity cards and blank visas. It is believed they have been charging more than £1,000 per document.

Minister for Countering Illegal Migration, Michael Tomlinson, said:

We’re working day and night to dismantle the criminal gangs who are trying to turn a profit by abusing our borders.

These arrests make clear if you are involved in this kind of criminality, you can expect our teams to find you and bring you to justice – wherever you are in the UK.

More than 10,500 enforcement visits took place in the first 9 months of 2023 – up 53% compared to the same period in 2022.  In 2023 alone, Home Office Immigration Enforcement secured the convictions of 141 people smugglers, including 80 people for piloting small boats.

Home Office Criminal and Financial Investigator, Paul Harvey, said:

This has been a large and well-planned operation executed across the entire country. We are working tirelessly to disrupt and dismantle the networks of criminals helping migrants to enter the UK illegally.

I’m grateful to my team for their commitment and determination in this investigation. We will now work hard to ensure these suspects are put behind bars.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 18 April 2024.

UK and Vietnam agree closer cooperation to stop the boats.

The UK has signed an agreement with Vietnam to increase cooperation on tackling illegal migration and stop Vietnamese people risking their lives by crossing the English Channel.

Minister for Countering Illegal Migration, Michael Tomlinson, and Senior Colonel Vu Van Hung from Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, signed a joint statement of cooperation in London on 17 April to reaffirm the countries’ strong partnership.

The agreement comes as an increasing number of Vietnamese migrants have arrived in the UK via small boats this year. From 2018 to the end of 2023 there were 3,356 Vietnamese small boat arrivals, putting Vietnam in the top 10 countries.

Earlier this week (Monday 15 April), Home Secretary James Cleverly spoke with his Vietnamese counterpart General To Lam and agreed a strong set of measures to tackle visa abuse, increase intelligence sharing, deterrence messages, and continue a successful returns process for illegal migrants from the UK to their home country.

The UK and Vietnam committed to:

• strengthen collaboration on deterrence communication campaigns to stop dangerous journeys in small boats
• increase intelligence-sharing to tackle visa abuse
• continue to facilitate the process for the return of those with no right to remain in the UK
• develop a joint action plan in tackling human trafficking to prevent vulnerable people and disrupt people trafficking
• continue to maintain direct and effective mechanisms and communication channels to share information
• promote legal routes

Minister for Countering Illegal Migration, Michael Tomlinson, said:

Illegal migration is a global problem that requires global solutions. This agreement is an important step with a valued partner to ensure we are working in lockstep to end exploitation by people-smuggling gangs, and to save lives.

Only through continued close cooperation with our international partners will we dismantle the criminal networks profiting from this evil trade, and stop the boats.

Senior Colonel Vu Van Hung said:

The UK and Vietnam share a strong strategic partnership and are celebrating 51 years of diplomatic relations. Apart from collaborations in trade, education, research, technology innovation and climate change, tackling illegal migration and human trafficking is hugely important and mutually beneficial to both countries. We are committed to working together on ensuring safe and legal routes and protecting victims of human trafficking.

In March, the Home Office launched a social media campaign in Vietnam to highlight the risks of crossing the Channel in small boats.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 16 April 2024.

Chief constables will chair police misconduct hearing panels.

New measures laid in Parliament today (16 April 2024) will make it easier for police chiefs to sack rogue officers during misconduct hearings.

Police chief constables will be given the responsibility of chairing the hearings which decide on the removal of officers found guilty of police misconduct.

By giving these powers to chief constables, police leaders will be held increasingly accountable for their own officers and be able to influence any dismissal decisions impacting their own force.

Policing Minister Chris Philp said:

Officers unfit to serve must be rooted out at the earliest opportunity and these changes will ensure chief constables are given greater control over this process.

The public need greater confidence that the officers who serve their communities are dedicated to keeping them safe.

We have already made progress in improving the police dismissals process, which includes the police carrying out the largest-ever integrity screening exercise of their workforce and through strengthened vetting, which will go further in booting out corrupt officers.

In some circumstances, such as where misconduct allegations are more minor, chiefs will be able to delegate their role on the panel to a senior police staff member to ensure best possible use of public and policing resources.

Under the new measures, police and crime commissioners (PCCs) will also have greater responsibility for scrutinising the decisions made by dismissals panels. Chiefs, or in some cases senior police officers, will need to provide justifications for decisions where requested. For example, where it has been decided that a misconduct hearing should be held in private.

The democratically elected commissioners will be tasked with holding those making dismissals decisions to account. PCCs will choose independent members to form the rest of the panel and sit alongside the chair and supportive legal advisors. This will ensure that any conflicts of interest are avoided to uphold the fairness of any hearings.

Previously these panels were chaired by independent lawyers known as legally qualified chairs. Legal advisors will remain an important part of hearings but will now be known as a ‘legally qualified person’ who can provide independent legal advice in a more supportive role. The outcome of the hearings will still be determined by a majority panel decision, and hearings will continue to be held in public to maintain transparency and fairness.

These changes, which will come into force on 7 May 2024, follow a comprehensive review into police dismissals following the conviction of David Carrick, a serving police officer, for numerous sexual offences.

In February, the government set out further changes to the police disciplinary system which will mean that any officer charged with an indictable offence will be automatically suspended from duty until an outcome is reached, alongside legislation that will make it easier to sack officers who fail to hold basic vetting when re-checked, as well as anyone found guilty of gross misconduct.

The Home Office has also committed to providing funding to develop an automated and continuous integrity screening system of the police workforce to ensure that officers are continuously vetted throughout their career.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 11 April 2024.

Income required to bring family to the UK increased as final measure of package to reduce legal migration comes into force.

The Home Secretary has delivered on his promise to transform the UK’s immigration system, cut unsustainable and unfair levels of migration, and ensure those arriving here do not burden the taxpayer.

The final measure in the Prime Minister and Home Secretary’s package to reduce legal migration will see the minimum income required to sponsor someone coming to the UK on a family visa increased from £18,600 to £29,000 from today (11 April) – an increase of more than 55%. By early 2025, this will have increased 2 more times, rising to £38,700 – to meet the new salary threshold for a Skilled Worker visa.

Today’s change comes as the Home Secretary meets his commitment to implement his major package of reforms to the immigration system within weeks of announcing them – which came following the unveiling of measures to tighten the student visa route in May 2023. It means approximately 300,000 people arriving in the UK last year would no longer be able to.

The full set of measures, which have all been implemented, include:

• ending the ability of nearly all students to bring dependants to the UK
• restricting care workers from bringing family members
• requiring care providers to register with the Care Quality Commission if they are sponsoring migrant care workers
• commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to carry out a rapid review of the Graduate route for international students to prevent abuse, protect the integrity and quality of UK higher education and ensure it works in the best interests of the UK
• increasing the minimum salary required for those arriving on the Skilled Worker visa, from £26,200 to £38,700
• replacing the Shortage Occupation List with a new Immigration Salary List, with employers no longer able to pay migrants less than UK workers in shortage occupations

Home Secretary, James Cleverly, said:

We have reached a tipping point with mass migration. There is no simple solution or easy decision which cuts numbers to levels acceptable to the British people.

Whether it was words unsupported by action, unfounded optimism or just plain wishful thinking that migration would fall on its own, indifference of any kind is never going to work – only determined action, backed by strong resolve, will deliver needed change.

I promised action and we have delivered at remarkable speed. We’ve acted to cut unsustainable numbers, to protect British workers and their wages, to ensure those bringing family to the UK do not burden taxpayers, and to build an immigration system fit for the future – and one the public can rightly have confidence in.

The staged approach to increasing the income requirement gives predictability to families, enabling them to plan accordingly, whilst ensuring that anyone coming to the UK to be with their family or loved ones is supported financially.

The government has been clear that family life cannot be established in the UK at the expense of taxpayers, and migrants joining their family must integrate into society and play a full part in British life.

The income requirement, which had remained unchanged for more than a decade, helps to ensure families are self-sufficient and not relying on public funds, whilst making a positive impact on the economy. The sponsoring family member, or in combination with the applicant if they are in the UK with permission to work, must now have an income of at least £29,000 earned in the UK. The requirement can be met in a number of ways, including through savings exclusively or in addition to a lower income.

The government has been clear that current levels of immigration are too high – putting pressure on public services, housing, and undercutting British workers – which is why decisive action was taken in December. The government’s ambition for a high-skill, high-wage economy cannot rely on mass migration, and measures introduced as part of the package will protect British workers, encourage business to invest in, and recruit, workers domestically, while prioritising only the very best talent from abroad.

Delivery of this comprehensive series of measures comes as the government cracks down on rising migration, both legally and illegally, and reforms the immigration system. The plan is working, with small boats crossings down by around a third last year. Work continues to tackle this global challenge and this includes stepped-up enforcement action with international partners to clamp down on criminal gangs.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 11 April 2024.

The proposals, which are subject to parliamentary approval, will include the following:

• a standard online application made from within the UK will rise to £88.50 for adults and £57.50 for children
• a standard postal application will increase to £100.00 for adults and £69.00 for children
• a standard online application when applying from overseas will rise to £101.00 for adults and £65.50 for children
• a standard paper application when applying from overseas will increase to £112.50 for adults and £77.00 for children

The new fees will help ensure that income from these applications better meets the cost of delivering passport and associated operations, reducing reliance on funding from general taxation. The government does not make any profit from the cost of passport applications.

The fees contribute to the cost of processing passport applications, consular support overseas, including for lost or stolen passports, and the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders. The increase will also help enable the government to continue improving its services.

The new fees include those newly applying or renewing their passport.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 10 April 2024.

Twelve immigration offenders have been arrested following a Home Office raid on a bedding and mattress factory in the West Midlands.

Immigration Enforcement officers descended on the business, acting on intelligence that illegal working was taking place on site.

They arrested 7 men – all Indian nationals – for suspected illegal working.

Four more Indian men were arrested at a nearby cake factory. They were found to be in breach of their visa conditions and one was also working illegally.

An Indian woman was then arrested for immigration offences at a private home, with further raids planned throughout the afternoon.

Four of the offenders were detained pending consideration for removal from the UK. The remaining 8 were bailed on the condition they report regularly to the Home Office.

The 2 businesses could now face substantial fines if it is established they have employed illegal workers and have failed to conduct relevant pre-employment checks.

In February this year, the Home Office tripled fines for employers who allow illegal migrants to work for them. For a first breach this has gone from £15,000 to £45,000 per illegal worker and for repeat breaches within 3 years the fines have increased from £20,000 to £60,000.

Michael Tomlinson MP, Minister for Countering Illegal Migration, said:

This operation is a clear example of the way we are stepping up immigration enforcement activity across the country.

Employers found to be breaching the rules can expect significantly increased fines, and, if workers are found to have no right to live or work here, we will not hesitate to act and remove them from the country.

Eddy Montgomery, Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime at the Home Office said:

Illegal working causes serious harm to communities, puts vulnerable people at risk and defrauds the public purse.

The arrests send a clear message that we are clamping down on this dangerous practice.

People smugglers sell migrants the lie that they can work in the UK. The reality is that they can’t – and those found to be working illegally or facilitating this crime will face the full weight of the law.

More information on our increased fines can be found on GOV.UK

The press release issued by the Home Office on 10 April 2024.

Fifty more asylum hotels are due to be closed, building on the closure of the first 100 at the end of March.

One hundred and fifty asylum hotels will be closed by the beginning of May, reducing the strain of illegal migration on local communities, as discussions progress between the Home Office and the local council on the future use of RAF Scampton.

The department is making rapid progress on returning hotels to communities, building on the closure of the hundredth hotel last month, and moving residents into large sites and the private rented sector.

More hotels will be closed in due course, delivering on the Home Secretary’s promise to reduce the use of this type of accommodation.

This means there are 20,000 fewer asylum seekers in hotels than 6 months ago, down from more than 56,000 at the end of September 2023 – a reduction of 36%.

Hotel accommodation, which has cost more than £8 million a day, has always been intended as a temporary solution to ensure the Home Office meets the statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute during a period of unprecedented numbers of small boat arrivals.

The Home Office continues to negotiate with a range of accommodation providers to find the most affordable accommodation to ensure the greatest value for money and reduce reliance on hotels. Such accommodation relieves pressure on communities and manages asylum seekers in a more appropriate way, bringing the UK in line with the approach taken by other countries in Europe.

Large sites, such as former military sites and barges, reduce demand on an already pressured private rental market, and their larger capacity allows the Home Office to be agile in responding to fluctuations in demand.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said:

We promised to end the use of asylum hotels and house asylum seekers at more appropriate, cheaper accommodation; we are doing that at a rapid pace.

These closures deliver on the government’s plan to cut the use of hotels in the asylum system and we will keep going until the last hotel is closed.

Alongside hotel closures, the government committed at the end of March to accommodating a smaller number of asylum seekers at RAF Scampton for the shortest possible time in response to local concerns.

The government recognises the heritage assets of Scampton, the vital role it played in the Second World War and the importance of the site to the local community.

The site, which has not yet been opened, is equipped with medical and security services, and the Home Office has limited occupancy to 800 people – rather than 2,000 as originally proposed – to minimise the impact on community cohesion.

The Home Office and West Lindsey District Council continue to work together towards a joint agreement to give greater clarity on the future use of the site for asylum seekers and the community. Those discussions are progressing and we will set out further details in the coming weeks.

The government wants the site to benefit the local community for the long term and be redeveloped for other uses such as tourism, education and research.

The reduction in hotel use is just one part of the government’s relentless action to reduce the strain illegal migration continues to place on British taxpayers. Ultimately, the best way to save money is by deterring people from coming to the UK illegally in the first place, and our partnership with Rwanda intends to do just that.

Government action to crack down on criminals, deter migrants from making dangerous crossings and, alongside our French counterparts, intercept vessels, saw a reduction in small boat crossings by 36% last year. The government also continues to run campaigns to deter would-be migrants from beginning perilous journeys.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 10 April 2024.

Assaulting a retail worker to be made a standalone criminal offence.

To the shoplifters and those abusing shopworkers, enough is enough.

Serial or abusive shoplifters will face tougher punishments as the Prime Minister sets out tough new action to crack down on retail crime and protect UK highstreets.

Assaulting a retail worker will be made a standalone criminal offence, sending a clear message that there will be tough consequences for this unacceptable behaviour.

Perpetrators could be sent to prison for up to 6 months, receive an unlimited fine and be banned from going back to the shop where they committed their crimes, with criminal behaviour orders barring them visiting specific premises. Breaching an order is also a criminal offence and carries a 5-year maximum prison sentence. For the most serious cases of assault, such as causing grievous bodily harm with intent, offenders could face a life sentence.

The move to create the new offence follows longstanding campaigning on this issue from Matt Vickers MP, and some of the biggest retailers, calling for more action to better protect their staff.

The government is also stepping up action to clamp down on offenders who repeatedly target the country’s high streets, with serial offenders forced to wear tags to track their movements.

These tags will be a constant and physical reminder to offenders that the Probation Service can find out where they have been and when, and that they risk being sent to prison if they refuse to obey the rules. Under an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, if an offender is found guilty of assaulting staff 3 times, or is sentenced for shoplifting on 3 separate occasions, they should be made to wear a tag as part of any community order.

Ahead of this legislation coming in, the government will partner with a police force to pilot a bespoke package of community sentencing measures which can be used by judges to tackle high levels of shoplifting, sending a clear message that repeat criminality will not be tolerated.

The government is also ramping up the use of facial recognition technology to help catch perpetrators and prevent shoplifting in the first place. Backed by a £55.5 million investment over the next 4 years, the police will be able to further roll this new state of the art technology. This will include £4 million for bespoke mobile units that can be deployed to high streets across the country with live facial recognition used in crowded areas to identify people wanted by the police – including repeat shoplifters.

The mobile units will take live footage of crowds in towns and on high streets, comparing images to specific people wanted by the police or banned from that location. Police in the area will then be alerted so they can track down these offenders.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

Since 2010, violent and neighbourhood crime in England and Wales has fallen dramatically, showing our plan to keep our streets safe is working. Yet shoplifting and violence and abuse towards retail workers continues to rise.

I am sending a message to those criminals – whether they are serious organised criminal gangs, repeat offenders or opportunistic thieves – who think they can get away with stealing from these local businesses or abusing shopworkers, enough is enough.

Our local shops are the lifeblood of our communities, and they must be free to trade without the threat of crime or abuse.

The action set out today builds on the successes already through the police’s Retail Crime Action Plan, which was commissioned by the Crime and Policing Minister, Chris Philp last year.

This included a range of measures, such as a police commitment to prioritise urgently attending the scene of shop theft involving violence against a shopworker, where security guards have detained an offender or where attendance is needed to secure evidence, which is showing signs of progress.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said:

There is quite simply no excuse for threatening behaviour or stealing – which can run other people’s livelihoods into the ground, while being traumatic for workers.

To turn a blind eye to retail crime shakes the foundations of law and order which protect our society and that is unacceptable. We are enhancing our plan and doubling down on the zero-tolerance approach needed to fight back.

The number of offenders being charged for these crimes is increasing and while I want to see more people face consequences for their actions, our plan is designed to help put a stop to these crimes happening in the first place.

The government has driven forward significant efforts to tackle retail crime in the past year, bringing together policing and business to commit to smarter, more joined -up working to reduce criminal behaviour and rebuild public confidence in the police response when it does occur.

Crime and Policing Minister Chris Philp said:

Sadly if you speak to anyone working in retail, they will tell you of the verbal abuse and sometimes violent assaults they’ve been victims of, simply for trying to do their job.

In no other work place would this be accepted. I have been driving forward action to improve the police response to retail crime since I became Policing Minister, because nothing less than a zero-tolerance approach will do.

That’s why today we’re sending a clear message to criminals that enough is enough bringing forward further measures to protect retail workers and crack down on those who continuously disregard the law.

A specialist new police team set up last year is building intelligence on organised retail crime gangs funded through ‘Pegasus’, a first-of-its-kind business and policing partnership backed by 14 of the UK’s biggest retailers, National Business Crime Solutions and the Home Office, launched to radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with police to identify more offenders. The unit forms part of Opal, the national police intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.

Where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police are committed to running this through the Police National Database, as standard, to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals. This builds on the pledge by police forces across England and Wales that they will follow up on all lines of enquiry, where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime.

All police forces across England and Wales made another significant commitment last year to prioritise police attendance at the scene of a retail crime incident where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, or where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel.

Paul Gerrard, Campaigns and Public Affairs Director of The Co-op Group, said:

The Co-op sees every day the violence and threats our colleagues, like other retail workers, face as they serve the communities they live in.

We have long called for a standalone offence of attacking or abusing a shopworker and so we very much welcome the government’s announcement today.

The Co-op will redouble our work with police forces but these measures will undoubtedly, when implemented, keep our shopworkers safer, protect the shops they work in and help the communities both serve.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:

After relentless campaigning for a specific offence for assaulting retail workers, the voices of the 3 million people working in retail are finally being heard.

The impact of retail violence has steadily worsened, with people facing racial abuse, sexual harassment, threatening behaviour, physical assault and threats with weapons, often linked to organised crime. Victims are ordinary hardworking people – teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare.

This announcement sends a clear message that abusive behaviour will not be tolerated and it is vital the police use this new legislation to step up their response to incidents. Together, we must stamp out this scourge in crime that has been sweeping the nation and ensure retail workers are given the vital protections they deserve.

Sharon White, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said:

Retail crime is never victimless – it costs retailers over £1 billion every year and can have a huge impact on the shopworkers involved.

We’ve long called for violence towards retail workers to be recognised as a standalone offence so welcome this announcement, which sends a clear message that abuse will never be tolerated. It will help deter acts of aggression, and allow police to drive prosecutions should instances escalate.

Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s CEO, said:

There is nothing more important to us than keeping our colleagues and customers safe.

Alongside our own security measures like colleague-worn cameras, in-store detectives and security barriers, today’s announcement is a vital next step in enabling our police forces to clamp down further.

We fully endorse and support this legislative focus and action on driving down retail crime.

Seb James, Managing Director, Boots UK and Ireland, said:

We welcome the measures announced by the government today.

Intimidation and abuse of retail workers is unacceptable, so legislation to strengthen shopworker protection sends a powerful signal and deterrent and we look forward to working with the Home Office, police, and local community partners to put these plans into action.

At Boots, we also continue to invest in our own capability to disrupt and deter criminal activity and protect our team members, including in our CCTV monitoring centre and body-worn video cameras.