About the Bill
A Bill for an Act of the Scottish Parliament to create an offence of assaulting, threatening, abusing, obstructing or hindering retail workers; and to provide for a statutory aggravation of that offence where the retail worker is enforcing a statutory age restriction.
Current Status of the Bill
This Member's Bill was introduced by Daniel Johnson MSP on 10 October 2019.
SPICe Briefings
SPICe has produced a briefing on the Bill.
Stage 1
The Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee is considering
the Protection of Workers (Retail
and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Bill. The deadline for
submitting written views was 31 January. The Committee held 3 oral evidence sessions on
3 March, took evidence from the Minister for Community Safety on 6 May and Daniel Johnson, the Member in charge of the Bill on 13 May.
Timetable
The Committee took evidence on the Bill from stakeholders on 3 March. You can read the transcript of what was said during the meeting in the Official Report.
- Law Society of Scotland;
- Police Scotland;
- Scottish Grocers' Federation;
- Scottish Retail Consortium;
- The Scottish Beer and Pub Association;
- Co-operative Group;
- Usdaw, and
- GMB Scotland.
Official Report 3 March
On 6 May the Committee took evidence from the Minister for Community Safety.
Official Report 6 May
On 13 May the Committee took evidence from Daniel Johnson, the Member in charge of the Bill.
Official Report 13 May
Evidence
On the 27th to the 29th of February, the Scottish Parliament's Engagement and Outreach teams set-up a "pop-up Parliament" stand in the Piazza Shopping Centre in Paisley. They asked retail workers and shoppers what they thought about the Bill. A note summarising the points raised will be considered as evidence contributing to the Committee's work.
The Scottish Youth Parliament asked young people how they felt about the Bill through an online survey. The responses have been compiled in a summary.
Correspondence
The Non-Government Bills Unit wrote to the Committee with the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) for the Member's Bill.
The Scottish Government provided a memorandum to assist consideration of the Bill.
Daniel Johnson, the Member in Charge of the Bill wrote to the Committee on 1 June 2020.
Report
The Committee reported on 30 June 2020.