HL Deb 20 October 2003 vol 653 cc143-4WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What statistics they have on violent attacks on people who work in convenience stores for each of the last three years and the current year to date; what is the average time taken by police forces to respond to emergency calls from them; whether they are content with current response times; and what action they are taking to work with retailers to combat violent crime in their stores. [HL4611]

Baroness Scotland of Asthal

The requested information on the levels of violent attacks on people who work in convenience stores and the time taken by police to respond to these is not collected centrally.

The Government do take crime against the retail sector very seriously and the Business Crime Section within the Home Office is focusing on this issue. Advice on reducing violent crime has been provided by the Home Office in a booklet for retailers entitled Don't discount crime, which covers all aspects of crime prevention and includes a section on keeping safe. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published Work-related violence: managing the risk in smaller businesses on 9 July 2002. The publication includes 10 case studies on how some businesses have reduced the risk of violence to staff. It has also published specific guidance for the retail sector, called Preventing Violence to Retail Staff. This provides practical guidance for retailers and their staff on how the problems and causes of violence might be tackled. It sets out an approach that can be adopted as everyday practice.

These issues can only be addressed by a joint approach and the Government are committed to working with the retail industry to combat all types of crime against the industry. An example of this is the DTI-sponsored Retail Strategy Group, comprising members from both the public and private sectors, which has a specific sub-group that includes officials from the Home Office, DTI and Small Business Service to look at crime issues.

Retail crime reduction partnerships, which exist in many town and shopping centres, enable members to share information and exclude offenders, including potentially violent offenders, from their stores. The Home Office paid for a consultant to work with the British Retail Consortium over a two-year period to develop these partnerships, many of which are supported by the government offices in the regions.

The Home Office has also provided £15 million over three years to help small shops in deprived areas, many of which are convenience stores, with security.