Retailers urge MPs to back amendment to Crime Bill Print
12th May 2021
A coalition of more than 30 major retailers is urging MPs to back an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, which would offer frontline workers greater protection.
The call for stiffer penalties for those committing assaults and attacks on shopworkers comes as a new report ‘Breaking the Cycle: Gaining the views of criminal justice practitioners and retail offenders on effective sentencing’ is launched.
The research – funded through the Co-op’s Safer Colleagues, Safer Communities, campaign – offers a response to the white paper ‘A Smarter Approach to Sentencing and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill’. The provides clear opportunities to encourage government to legislate to protect and support shopworkers.
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A coalition which consists of more than 30 major retail businesses, are today (12 May, 2021) urging MPs to avoid shackling over three million shopworkers to a “life sentence” of violence, abuse and anti-social behaviour by encouraging them to back an amendment to a flagship Government crime bill which would offer frontline workers greater protection.
The call for stiffer penalties for those committing assaults and attacks on shopworkers comes as a new report “Breaking the Cycle: Gaining the views of criminal justice practitioners and retail offenders on effective sentencing” is launched. The research – written by Dr Emmeline Taylor and funded through the Co-op’s Safer Colleagues, Safer Communities, campaign – offers a response to the White Paper “A Smarter Approach to Sentencing and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill”, and provides clear opportunities to encourage Government to legislate to protect and support shopworkers.
Retailers and unions are stepping up a campaign for legislation to protect shopworkers against crime.
A coalition including leading supermarkets and trade have written to the Prime Minister saying that legislation is needed to protect the three million workers in the sector.
The Government has rejected calls for a new law, but the letter warns that shopworkers continue to face violence, abuse and anti-social behaviour.
The Co-op published a new report to back up the call for stiffer penalties for those committing assaults and attacks on shopworkers.
The retail giant revealed that in the first quarter of this year, it has seen almost 400 incidents where weapons have been used against shopworkers, with over half of those involving sharp implements, such as a syringe or a knife or bottle.
Co-op unveils major carbon plan
Initiatives include selling fully carbon-neutral own-brand food, and price matching plant-based food against meat equivalents
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The Co-op has unveiled plans to sell fully carbon-neutral own-brand food and drink by 2025.
The move, which it described as a world first by a major supermarket, is part of a ten-point climate plan to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2040, ten years ahead of the government’s ambition.
The plan covers everything from food products and packaging to power and pension fund investments, and details how the Co-op will reduce the direct and indirect impacts of all the food and drink it sells and its wider operations. The retailer also reported that it has achieved carbon neutral status across its Food, Funeralcare, Insurance and Power businesses, including its 2,600 food stores and 800 funeral homes.
By Duncan Ferris
6/5/21
Co-op has announced plans to lower its pension scheme’s carbon emissions as part of a ten-point climate plan to achieve net-zero for its direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2040.
The food retail chain said it intended to align its finances, including carbon offsets and pension funds, to support lower carbon investments, while also reducing the direct and indirect impacts of all the food and drink it sells.
Co-op is aiming to be the first supermarket to sell fully carbon neutral own brand food and drink by 2025, while it also committed to will price matching its plant-based GRO range against equivalent meat products.