Protect Retail Workers from Abuse, Threats and Violence.
This petition gathered 104,354 signatures between 24 July 2020 and 24 January 2021, according to the Parliament petitions site. The Government responded on 15 September 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 7 June 2021.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Protect Retail Workers from Abuse, Threats and Violence.
Enact legislation to protect retail workers. This legislation must create a specific offence of abusing, threatening or assaulting a retail worker. The offence must carry a penalty that acts as a deterrent and makes clear that abuse of retail workers is unacceptable.
Throughout the Coronavirus outbreak, retail workers have been spat at, threatened with infection of Coronavirus and physically assaulted. Since the start of the outbreak, the average retail worker has been assaulted, threatened or abused every 6.5 days, more than double the rate of incidents compared to 2019.
Key workers across retail have been undervalued for too long. We need to recognise the valuable contribution of these workers and ensure they are safe whilst undertaking essential work.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 15 September 2020; the petitions site lists the Ministry of Justice as responsible. Its summary:
The Government is not persuaded that a specific offence is needed as a wide range of offences already exist which cover assaults against any worker, including shop workers.
The opening 398 words of the 559-word response:
Everyone should feel safe at work which is why assaults on shop workers, doing vital work for the country and the economy are simply unacceptable. The Government pays tribute to all shop workers who have worked tirelessly during the pandemic to keep shops stocked with essential items.
Although the Government is sympathetic to the motivations behind the petition, it remains unpersuaded of the need for a specific offence as there are already a wide range of offences which exist and which cover assaults against any worker, including shop workers and those selling age restricted items. Relevant offences include common assault, actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm, harassment and other public order offences which criminalise threatening or abusive behaviour intended to harass, alarm or distress a person. All these offences already apply to people whose work brings them into contact with members of the public.
In April last year, the Home Office published a call for evidence - `Violence and abuse towards shop staff’ - to further understand the issue of violence and abuse towards shop workers, the measures which may help prevent these crimes and the extent to which existing legislation is being used to tackle them. The consultation concluded on 28 June 2019.
An overview of the responses to that call for evidence, showed there to be a general lack of faith in the way in which these crimes are dealt with either by the police, the shop worker’s employer or in response to shop workers themselves. This seemed to contribute to the view that the response to such crimes was often inadequate and was also a factor that led individuals to decide not to report further incidents. The Government believes that it is this issue that requires more urgent action rather than a change in the law.
The Government’s response to that call for evidence was published on 7 July 2020 and sets out plans to crack down on abuse and violence against shop workers. The steps, which are detailed in the Home Office’s response to the call for evidence (see - https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence) are designed to improve support for victims and ensure perpetrators face justice. They include working with the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) on a best practice guide to support staff in reporting these crimes, strengthening and making full use of existing laws, and improving data sharing between businesses and the police.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 498, came from Welwyn Hatfield.
104,179 of the signatures were from the UK and 175 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Welwyn Hatfield | 498 |
| South Swindon | 404 |
| Hertford and Stortford | 339 |
| Southampton, Itchen | 331 |
| North Swindon | 319 |
| Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | 316 |
| Portsmouth North | 302 |
| Cannock Chase | 298 |
| Isle of Wight | 293 |
| Wellingborough | 290 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 14,711 |
| North West | 12,308 |
| East of England | 11,251 |
| South West | 10,967 |
| London | 9,054 |
| West Midlands | 8,928 |
| Scotland | 8,352 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 7,440 |
| East Midlands | 7,433 |
| Wales | 5,461 |
| North East | 3,619 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,320 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 7 June 2021. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/328621.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
5eb80f8bafe1ec14… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.