A wave of crime and anti-social behaviour is putting delivery drivers at risk and tough new laws are needed to keep them safe, unions have warned. One in eight drivers employed by firms such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Asda, Morrisons and Iceland have been assaulted in the past year, and a quarter have refused to carry out a delivery because they feared for their safety.
Union Usdaw is calling on the government to include drivers in laws to be debated by MPs on Tuesday, which will create a new offence of assaulting a shopworker. The measure, in the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill, follows a huge upsurge in theft and abuse in shops, but it does not include people working for retailers outside of shop premises.
Rail workers have also experienced a rise in abuse and violence, and British Transport Police has urged the Government to ensure they are protected too.
An Usdaw survey of 300 drivers found 77% had been a victim of abuse in the past year. A common flashpoint comes when those delivering items such as alcohol ask for proof of age from the person receiving the order, as they are required to do by law.
Paddy Lillis, the union’s general secretary, said: “Our members tell us this can be very problematic and they feel vulnerable to attack.”
The Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new offence of assaulting a retail worker and scraps legislation classifying the theft of items worth less than £200 as “low value” shoplifting.
It comes after the British Retail Consortium, which represents high street chains and thousands of smaller shops, warned retail crime had “skyrocketed” with more than 2,000 incidents of violence or abuse against retail workers every day in the UK, up from 1,300 the previous year.
Home Office Minister Diana Johnson said: “This Government is committed to tackling retail crime. Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
“Assaults against delivery drivers are already an offence (common assault) under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and are covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.”
British Transport Police has issued an appeal for rail workers to be protected in a similar way to shop staff, after 7,405 crimes were recorded against the railway workforce last year, including 3,650 violent offences. In a paper submitted to the House of Commons, the force said: “This Bill seeks to create a new offence of assault of retail worker. British Transport Police support this change however would seek to have similar protections extended to transport workers.”
It added: “Transport workers undertake a number of roles vital to the running of the UK rail network. Unfortunately, a significant number are assaulted in the course of their duties.”