The Liberal Democrats have raised alarm over what they describe as the “decriminalisation” of burglary and shoplifting, as new data reveals that the vast majority of such offences across Britain are going unsolved.
Figures revealed by the House of Commons Library research, commissioned by the party, showed that only 5.25 per cent of shoplifting offences in London last year led to a suspect being charged.
Out of 88,248 incidents reported to the Metropolitan Police, just 4,629 resulted in charges.
Leicestershire police recorded the lowest charge rate for shoplifting in the country—only 4.5 per cent of 8,345 reported offences led to a suspect being charged.
Humberside police had the highest rate of solved shoplifting cases, charging suspects in 31 per cent of incidents, followed closely by Norfolk Police at 30 per cent.
Across England and Wales, just 18 per cent of the recorded 516,791 shoplifting offences led to a suspect being charged, a marginal increase from 17 per cent the year prior.
The situation is even more concerning for burglary offences.
Less than one in 20 burglaries resulted in a charge last year, with only 7,761 suspects charged out of 172,544 reported incidents—just 4.5 per cent. This marks a drop from the previous year’s 5.2 per cent of the 185,683 burglary crimes.
Derbyshire Police recorded the worst performance for solving burglaries, with just 2 per cent of cases resulting in charges.
Other forces with similarly low outcomes include Hertfordshire (2.11 per cent), Leicestershire (2.56 per cent), Sussex (2.64 per cent), and Gloucestershire (2.86 per cent).
Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, condemned the figures, telling The Times, “It is shocking that crimes like burglaries and shoplifting are being effectively decriminalised, leaving local communities to pay the price.”
The party has warned that Labour’s failure to properly fund police forces would lead to even more crimes going unsolved.
The Labour government has announced a £1.1 billion boost for police forces across England and Wales for 2025–26, bringing total funding to £19.6 billion.
However, forces have argued that the rise falls short of what is needed to make up for years of underinvestment, increasing demands on officers, and above-inflation pay rises.
In February, prime minister Keir Starmer announced the scrapping of the “shoplifters’ charter” as part of efforts to crack down on retail crime and prevent repeat offences.
Criticising the previous Conservative government, Starmer said: “The opposite party left us with rising crime and effectively told police to ignore shoplifting under £200 worth of goods.
“We’ve got rid of that shoplifters’ charter and we’re working hard to make sure we get a grip where they lost control.”
As part of the government’s wider crackdown on retail crime, ministers have also pledged to introduce a new stand-alone offence for assaulting shop workers.
Sukhi Basra