Business Crime
What is the Government doing to tackle Business Crime
Business Crime Consultation
The Business Crime Consultation was launched in December 2002 and sought the views of business and other organisations on the best means of creating and maintaining effective partnerships to reduce the opportunities for crime against business and to enhance the contribution that business can make to crime reduction in England and Wales.
The majority of responses from the business sector represented small businesses, retailers, the financial services industry and the security industry. An analysis of the responses was completed in July 2003 and a full report on the responses was published in August 2003.
Current Strategy
In August 2003 Hazel Blears, Home Office Minister with responsibility for Crime Reduction, established a new Business Crime Team within the Home Office and tasked them with a programme of work to tackle business crime. It focuses around 5 key areas:
Obtaining regular and accurate information on the levels and types of business crime;
Developing a central advice/support service for businesses;
Improving links between business and existing partnerships;
Implementing measures to reduce retail crime;
Raising business awareness of its capacity and responsibility to reduce crime.
Initiatives Underpinning the Business Crime Strategy
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas project (SRDA)
A £15m project which has helped 12,500 small businesses over 3 years in the 10% most deprived areas with improving security and crime reduction.A Security Training programme Run in 28 locations across the country (Dec 03- March 04) and provided advice and training to over 600 key individuals in local businesses.
Action Against Business Crime (AABC)
£899k of funding for the British Retail Consortium – provided for the creation of the Action Against Business Crime (AABC) and a national network of crime reduction partnerships in town and shopping centres across England and Wales. For further info, please go to http://www.brc.org.uk/aabc/board.htm.£170k funding for two Drugs Pilot schemes
Provided in Brighton and Northampton to tackle the link between retail crime and drugs misuse by ensuring access to treatment by persistent shop thieves with drug misuse problems.The Small and Medium Enterprise Forum (SME)
A business led forum set up to enable the smaller business sector to discuss how best to tackle crimes affecting small and medium sized enterprises. Oversight of 4 working groups: closer working between business and the police, crime prevention advice and information, incentives for business and measures to reduce crime on industrial parksCentral St. Martin's Project
A project to design out drugs related retail crime in shopping centres around the South East through identifying best practice.Advice and Information to Business:
Top tips postcards "Putting crime out of Business" launched in September 2004.
Risk Assessment Booklet “ Keeping Crime out of Business” launched on 18 March 2005.
This mini site which went live on 1 December 2005
Police recorded statistics
Pilots undertaken in South Wales and Greater Manchester Police force areas to record crimes against business as a separate category using definition "any crime suffered by a business or an individual as a result of their employment".Piloting of 'ShopWatch'
Schemes in Camden, London and Birmingham - where shop floor staff are trained as Special Constables to combat retail crime.
Last update: Friday, February 29, 2008