§ 15. Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the inquiry set up by his Department into certain aspects of shoplifting.
§ Mr. SharplesThe Working Party on Internal Shop Security is still taking evidence and is unlikely to report for some time.
§ Mr. AdleyI am grateful to my hon. Friend for the obviously thorough work which the committee is doing. Is he aware that this problem is causing increasing public concern, that the Bristol Chamber of Commerce has now brought out a report referring to shoplifting as a social disease and that reliable statistics show that shoplifting is the biggest single crime in the Western world? Will he confirm that he recognises that the Government have a responsibility to study and act on these problems?
§ Mr. SharplesYes. That is why the working party has been set up to carry out the study. I know that a great deal of work has been done in Bristol where an interesting symposium was held.
Mr. J. T. PriceI am sure that no one in this House would condone shoplifting or give any encouragement to people who indulge in such practices. Is the Minister aware that the prevailing mood of retail distribution. in which the great operators of retail chain stores place an ever-increasing burden on the 1605 customer to find his own goods and dismiss shop assistants in the interests of self-service and higher profits, is an important contributory cause of shoplifting?
§ Mr. SharplesYes. One result which I hope will emerge from the working party's study is that some of the temptations to people to shoplift will be removed.