Committee publication · Correspondence · 26 November 2025
Letter to the Minister for Policing and Crime relating to high street crime, 13 November 2025
From: Business and Trade Committee
Inquiry: Small business strategy
Summary
The Business and Trade Committee writes to the Minister for Policing and Crime requesting information on high street crime as part of its inquiry into small business strategy. The Committee has heard evidence that crime—including shop theft, illegal trading, money laundering, and illegal goods sales—imposes significant costs on retail businesses and drives consumers away. The letter poses nine questions about the Department's estimates of crime costs, approaches to crime prevention incentives, police reporting standardisation, multi-agency coordination, and legislative strengthening around organised crime and corporate fraud.
Key findings
- The Committee has heard evidence of a 'ten pence crime tax on every single transaction' imposed on the convenience sector due to shop theft and other crime.
- The Secretary of State for Business and Trade indicated that tackling high street crime falls outside his departmental brief, prompting the inquiry to the Home Office.
- Multi-agency efforts to tackle illegal practices on the high street have declined in recent years, according to evidence heard by the Committee.
- Investments in security measures such as CCTV can increase property rateable values, potentially creating a disincentive for crime prevention investment.
- The Committee identifies organised criminal groups' involvement in illicit trade and asks whether discussions have occurred with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding trading standards funding.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Sarah Jones MP, Peter Kyle, Business and Trade Committee, Home Office, Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Notable line
“… the cost of shop theft and other crime amounts to a "10p crime tax on every single transaction" for the convenience sector alone.”
Key Quotes
“The Committee has heard significant evidence of the prevalence of illegal trading on the high street, harming legitimate businesses and driving consumers away from the high street.”
“… the cost of shop theft and other crime amounts to a "10p crime tax on every single transaction" for the convenience sector alone”
“When we put these issues to Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, he told us that tackling these issues sat outside of his brief.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗