ACS has responded to the publication of new crime figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showing a record number of shoplifting offences in the year to June 2024.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales, published on October 2, has shown that in the 12 months to June 2024, there were 469,788 recorded shoplifting offences compared to 365,173 in the previous year. This is an increase of 29%.
The number of offences is the highest ever recorded by the ONS since current recording practices began in 2003.
Data from ACS’ Voice of Local Shops Survey, which tracks levels of theft in the convenience sector, shows that theft has been increasing every quarter since mid-2021, reaching new record highs towards the end of 2023 and then breaking that record in the first half of 2024. The ACS Crime Report estimates that convenience retailers have recorded over 5.6million incidents of theft over the last year.
ACS chief executive James Lowman says: “We are hearing the right messages from government about reporting and investigating crime and applying effective penalties. Sadly this is entirely at odds with our members’ experiences of policing in communities up and down the country. Local shop owners and their colleagues are becoming quite sick of assurances from politicians, they want a response when they are put at risk and for criminals to be apprehended and sanctioned effectively.
“These figures should prompt a redoubling of efforts from everyone involved in tackling shop theft: retailers reporting crime every time, the police investigating every offence and identifying prolific repeat offenders, and the courts system applying effective penalties that aim to break the cycle of re-offending.”
In its first Kings Speech earlier this year, the government set out initial details of its Crime and Policing Bill, which promises to ‘introduce stronger measures to tackle low level shoplifting’, as well as introducing a separate offence for assaulting a shopworker.
More details on the Crime Survey for England and Wales are available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2024
