My constituents have been contacting me about the assault of retail workers.
I agree with the need to ensure people are punished for assaulting retail workers. It is a cowardly act to assault someone at any time, but doing so when they are simply carrying out their job to assist others is particularly contemptible.
I welcome measures that will make assaulting a retail worker a standalone criminal offence, replicating measures introduced by the last Government in the Criminal Justice Bill, which would have created a new offence of assaulting a retail worker at work. That Bill also proposed that serial offenders be forced to wear tags to track their movements, but it failed to pass before the general election. I hope the Government finds a way to ensure we can monitor the most prolific offenders to prevent them from committing these crimes.
Regarding delivery workers, I know that the last Government passed a measure making it a statutory aggravating factor when the victim of any assault—not just common assault—is a public-facing worker. I am aware that Usdaw has written to the Home Secretary to request that the protections for retail workers be extended to all delivery workers. The Government should carefully consider this proposal and assess whether it is compatible with the existing legal framework. Nevertheless, let me assure you that I believe the Government should take action to determine how best to ensure the safety of those who deliver to people's homes and to punish offenders who assault them.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
