Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 108
Agree an Employers Charter for retail workers, based on Suzy's Charter, with industry groups.
Recommendation
We applaud the work of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust in creating Suzy’s Charter, a far more effective and useful tool than the Government’s guidance for securing the safety of retail workers. The Government’s lacklustre endorsement of the Charter, a fleeting reference that “this could be used to benchmark what your business has in place” with a link to the website is very disappointing. We recommend that the Home Office strengthen its action by working with the National Retail Crime Steering Group to agree an Employers Charter using Suzy’s Charter as a template, which is specifically targeted at retail workers and retail crime. This approach would help drive best practice, it would ensure that retail workers know what they should expect and can put pressure on employers who do not meet these standards.
Government Response Summary
The government committed to reviewing existing resources and will consult with the National Retail Crime Steering Group about whether they would support the creation of an Employers Charter for retail workers, using Suzy’s Charter as a template.
Paragraph Reference:
108
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The work of the NRCSG has a strong focus on providing support those who are victims of violence and abuse in the course of their work in a retail setting. On 22 April 2021 the British Retail Consortium hosted a webinar event to launch the resources produced by the Task and Finish groups; the webinar opened with a video of a retail manager speaking about her experience of violence and abuse at work. The impact on victims have also been captured in case studies on the NRCSG webpage hosted on the British Retail Consortium website. The resources developed by the Task and Finish groups to support victims include a link to Suzy’s Charter. Further work is ongoing to explore other ways to support victims, for example the Home Office is currently working with restorative justice charities to include further information on the NRCSG webpage about how restorative justice interventions can be used, where appropriate, in relation to incidents experienced by retail workers. The Home Office, working with the NRCSG, will review the resources provided on the webpage to consider what additional advice, training and support victims and employers would like to see. We will consult the members of NRCSG about whether they would support the creation of an Employers Charter, working with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Preventative measures