A Bill to restrict the use of penalty notices for disorder in respect of the offence of theft from retail and commercial premises; to revise sentencing guidelines in respect of this offence; to make provision for the recording on a national database of penalty notices for disorder issued; and for connected purposes.
The Bill would restrict the circumstances in which penalty notices for disorder could be issued in respect of shop theft offences. It would require:the Secretary of State to publish police guidance stating that penalty notices for disorder could only be issued for minor shop theft offences where the offender was over 16 years old with no previous criminal convictionsthe consent of the shop manager before an offender could be dealt with by penalty noticethe Sentencing Guidelines Council to consider proposals that persistent offenders and those causing significant criminal damage whilst committing shop theft offences should be liable to a fine or a community sentence, rather than a penalty noticethe police to record all penalty notices issued in respect of such offences on a central database, setting out details such as the name, age and address of the offender and the value of goods stolen.
House of Commons
3 November 2009
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
The bill tightens when penalty notices for disorder can be used for theft from shops. It requires police guidance limiting such notices to minor shop thefts by people over 16 with no previous convictions, and requires shop managers’ consent before a penalty notice is issued. It also pushes sentencing guidance to favour a fine or community sentence for persistent offenders or those causing significant damage, and creates a central database to record every penalty notice issued for shop thefts with details such as offender and goods stolen value.
The bill is at the Second Reading stage in the House of Commons.
Generated 21 February 2026
11 Mar 2009
This Bill was presented to Parliament on 11 March. This is known as First Reading and there was no debate on the Bill at this stage.
This Bill was on the Order Paper for a Second Reading on several Fridays before being dropped by its sponsor, Miss Anne McIntosh.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
