Member

Turning now to Amendment 216, we absolutely share the desire of the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, to see the police take more, and more effective, action against shoplifters, but I am going to give three reasons why the Government do not feel that this amendment is needed. First, the College of Policing has already published guidance on tackling retail crime. That said, we appreciate the need to ensure that this guidance is up to date, and I know that Home Office Ministers will continue to work with the police to make sure that that happens. Secondly, training for police on tackling retail crime already exists. This was produced by the Police Crime Prevention Academy, with funding from the Home Office. In addition, the Government are providing £100,000 of funding in this financial year for the National Police Chiefs’ Council to give further training to police and retailers on prevention tactics.