MP steps up shoplifting pressure as fines soar

Friday, 16 January 2009

A Conservative MP is to step up her campaign in parliament to sort out the patchy and ineffective way that shoplifting is tackled by the police and courts.

Anne McIntosh, MP for the Vale of York, told Independent Retail News: "I am again going to put forward an amended early day motion in February for debate in the House of Commons in March."

Her move follows the release of the latest figures on the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) handed out by police for retail theft, which show a 16% increase to 45,100 in 2007.

Only 42% of the £80 'on-the-spot' fines were paid.

McIntosh said that although some progress had been made - such as last month's decision to retain the option of custodial sentences for shop theft - further parliamentary debate was needed.

She now wants FPNs included as part of a larger package designed to tackle shop theft. She said: "The implementation of the law on the ground is patchy. It may need tweaking. At the very least we need a debate in parliament to see how the new sentencing guidelines are working."

Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) public affairs director Shane Brennan said the increase in FPNs issued was partly due to more police forces using the sanction against shoplifters.

But he added: "We think there's a need for an urgent review of how they actually work in practice.

One of the questions I have is how often are they issuing these notices to the same person more than once?" The poor rate of payment was, said Brennan, "the single biggest condemnation of FPNs."

Meanwhile, a survey from security firm G4S claims 2.6 million British adults confessed to shoplifting over the past 12 months - a 30% increase on the previous year.

They stole goods worth £783m. The research suggests rising unemployment could see retailers facing a surge in shoplifting incidents, with 4% of British adults saying they would consider shoplifting if they lost their job.

David Shrimpton

The original article appears in Independent Retail News