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25
Feb
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP raises shoplifting crimewave in the House of Commons
Rising levels of shoplifting in our town centres have prompted Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon to raise the issue in the House of Commons yesterday (February 24).
Mr Gordon asked the Government's policing minister, Diane Johnson MP, what action it was taking to encourage and support police forces to work with local communities and organisations to help crack down on shoplifting.
Mr Gordon also raised concerns that shoplifting was increasingly being carried out by criminal gangs.
The Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) and Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce have both raised the issue of shoplifting with the MP.
When the Stray Ferret carried out a major survey of town-centre businesses 12 months ago, we found that 78% of them felt that shoplifting was a problem.
At the time, official figures showed that rates of retail crime in the Harrogate policing area had risen by 61% over the previous year.
More recently, figures obtained by the Stray Ferret in December revealed rising levels of shoplifting, but a sharp fall in the rate of attendance of such incidents by North Yorkshire Police.
In the first 10 months of last year, the police only attended one out of every five shoplifting incidents reported.
Since being elected as MP in July, Mr Gordon has founded the Harrogate Town Taskforce, to help bring together the police, the council and other stakeholders in the town centre, including the BID and Chamber of Commerce, to facilitate discussion of issues and coordination.
Tom Gordon MP speaking in the House of Commons.
Mr Gordon said:
It was great to raise the issues facing Harrogate and Knaresborough businesses this week. Shoplifting is a scourge, and potentially very damaging for businesses and our town centres. It is especially worrying that criminal gangs are getting involved, only increasing the pressure on our businesses.
I’m working with the business community, including the BID and Chamber of Commerce, and the police, to crack down on shoplifting in Harrogate.
It’s vital that we bring together all the stakeholders in our town together to tackle this issue. I’m glad to have been able to help facilitate that through the taskforce, and look forward to further collaboration to ensure Harrogate remains open for business.
Diane Johnson MP responded for the Government to say that she was working with police forces to increase cooperation with local communities, organisations and businesses to help reduce shoplifting.
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