Shoplifting law changes introduced by the Crime and Policing Act 2026 have quietly closed a loophole retailers had complained about for years: the £200 threshold that let low-value shop theft be treated as a summary-only offence, prosecuted with less urgency than theft above that amount. The Act repeals section 22A of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, meaning all shop theft is now treated as general theft – an either-way offence carrying up to seven years’ imprisonment regardless of the value stolen.
The government’s own framing, in the official retail crime factsheet, is that shop theft should be treated “with the seriousness it deserves,” regardless of how the £200 line previously shaped how a case was charged and prioritised. We covered the standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker created by the same Act when it was announced; the threshold change is the less-publicised but arguably more consequential half of the same reform.
Why the £200 line mattered more than its size suggests
In practice, a £200 threshold created an incentive structure that organised shoplifting groups understood well: staying just under the line kept individual thefts in a lower-priority category, even where the same individuals or groups were responsible for repeated losses that added up to a serious ongoing problem for a store. Retail crime charges rose 17 per cent in the year to December 2025, reaching 116,641, and around 590,000 incidents of violence and abuse against shopworkers were recorded in 2024/25 – with 78 per cent of surveyed retail staff reporting verbal abuse in 2025 alone, according to figures cited in the factsheet.
Removing the threshold does not, on its own, change what happens in a store on a given afternoon. What it changes is how the same incident is subsequently charged, recorded and prioritised by police once it is reported – which makes the quality of the initial report from the retailer more important, not less.
What this means for retail security practice
For loss prevention teams, the practical takeaway is that under-reporting low-value theft, on the assumption it was not worth pursuing under the old threshold, now leaves a gap in the pattern of evidence that could support a stronger case against a repeat offender. Consistent incident logging – even for individually low-value thefts – is now more directly connected to how seriously an offender can be pursued. Retailers should also make sure floor staff understand that the standalone assault offence and the threshold change work together: an incident that starts as a low-value theft and escalates into confrontation now falls under two distinct, more seriously treated offences rather than one loosely-prioritised one.
Our retail security and security guard hire teams train staff to log incidents in a way that supports police action under the new rules, whatever the value of the goods involved.
The change also interacts with the retail crime reporting technology now expanding across London, which lets stores submit CCTV footage and witness evidence directly to police. A faster route to a charging decision is only useful if the underlying evidence exists and is logged consistently, whatever the value of the item taken. Retailers who treat every theft, however small, as worth recording properly are better placed to benefit from both reforms working together, rather than relying on either one in isolation.
Need a security review?
If your stores need to update incident-reporting practice to reflect the new law, our team can help. Call us on 020 3700 0967, email info@secureonsitesecurity.co.uk, or visit our contact page. Related services:
- Retail security services for shops and shopping centres.
- Security guard hire for stores strengthening in-store presence.
- Corporate security services for retail head offices reviewing group-wide policy.
Whatever a theft’s value, these shoplifting law changes mean it is now worth reporting, logging and pursuing properly – the £200 excuse for treating it otherwise no longer exists.
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