§ Mr. LepperTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the correlation between(a) retail crime and street crime and (b) retail crime and drug abuse. [53501]
§ Mr. DenhamResearch carried out by the Home Department about the correlation between crime against retailers and street crime offences has been based on interviews with 1,884 prisoners in custody, carried out in February and March 2000. The full results of this survey are expected to be published later this year.
In a study carried out in London, Liverpool, Nottingham and Sunderland in 1998–99, 64 per cent. of those arrested for theft from shops tested positive for opiates (including heroin) and 41 per cent. tested positive for cocaine. When interviewed, 85 per cent. of those arrested for shop theft reported using heroin or cocaine in the previous year.
In a study carried out on behalf of the Drug Prevention Advisory Service between October 2000 and March 2001, 23 per cent. of the 19,190 arrestees who sought advice on drug or alcohol addiction had been arrested for shop theft. Similarly, 38 per cent. of those who sought advice admitted shop theft to be a main source of income, whilst 48 per cent. admitted shop theft in the previous 30 days.
The survey of crime affecting retailers and manufacturers announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 23 April, the results of which should be available next spring, will also provide up to date information about crimes against retailers.
§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to address the problem of violence against shop staff.[71220]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Home Office is working with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to raise awareness of the need to tackle work related violence as part of the Health and Safety Commission's three-year programme of work (2000–03) to help reduce the incidence of work-related violence. The HSE published "Work-related violence: managing the risk in smaller businesses" on20W 9 July 2002. The publication includes 10 case studies on reducing risk of violence to staff. The HSE has also published specific guidance for the retail sector "Preventing Violence to Retail Staff". "Don't Discount Crime", a new user-friendly crime reduction guide for retailers became available in May 2002. This is being circulated among their members by retail trade organisations (including the British Retail Consortium), who were actively involved in deciding its content and design. It is of particular relevance to small retailers and includes basic guidance on what steps to take to reduce crime as well as what to do in crime situations.
§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 14 May 2002,Official Report, column 605W, on retail crime, to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Mr. Lepper), if he will list for each regional crime reduction director, the annual budget for crime reduction in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [71305]
§ Mr. DenhamI refer the hon Member to the answer I gave the hon Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 22 July 2002,Official Report, column 863W.
§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what study has been made of the link between alcohol and drug-related violent crime against retail staff.[71219]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthNo study has been undertaken to look specifically at the link between alcohol and drug related violent crime against retail staff. However, we are aware from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) ninth annual survey published this year of their concerns about the level of crime affecting retailers and the concerns they have that this is being driven by theft by drug and alcohol abusers. We are carrying out a commercial crime victimisation study of retail and manufacturing sectors later this year (the first for ten years). This will give a firm basis for identifying the main crime problems affecting business and give valuable indicators of the best ways to tackle these issues.