Responsive Research Fund

Retail Crime Taskforce

Background

Following a funding allocation from the Scottish Government, Police Scotland has created a Retail Crime Taskforce to address the increased prevalence of retail crime. The Taskforce will develop a strategy centred on a 4Ps Approach – Prevent, Protect, Pursue and Prepare. This workstream has been developed in consultation with members of the Scottish Partnership Against Acquisitive Crime (SPAACE), which incorporates the Scottish Retail Consortium, Retailers Against Crime, the Scottish Grocers Federation, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and Trading Standards Scotland.

As part of this programme, up to £20,000 funding has been made available to undertake research on this topic in collaboration with Police Scotland. The objective of this research call is to support Police Scotland to better understand the contemporary Scottish landscape in relation to retail crime and make recommendations on effective strategic responses that the service might consider.

The research will focus on the following core themes:

The role of Organised Retail Crime Groups (ORCG) particularly in the context of exploitation of vulnerable and/or young people (and in the context of young people not being subject to the ‘adult’ criminalisation process)
Operating models of organised retail crime, e.g. understanding drivers of demand, modus operandi, resale markets, proceeds of crime.
Repeat offenders.
Non-localised offending: e.g. offenders from outside a local community who travel to and target stores.
Opportunistic retail crime in the context of wider societal factors (e.g. cost of living crisis, reduced security staff in supermarkets, increased reliance on self-scan)
Retail crime and the criminal justice system; perceptions that retail crime is low risk/high reward for perpetrators.

We envisage that the project will incorporate three work packages – however we are willing to place increased focus on a specific work package if applicants believe (and can demonstrate) that it would deliver greater impact and insights.

1. A short literature review exploring the current landscape of retail crime in Scotland.
2. Analysis of police and non-police data on retail crime to identify retail crime trends in Scotland.
3. Identifying examples of national/international best practice and strategic approaches to address ongoing and emerging challenges

Information for Applicants

1. Eligibility

Applications are welcome from any researchers (who do not need to be based in Scotland or at a university, although knowledge of the Scottish context is important). Priority will be given to bids involving staff based at a SIPR member university. We encourage interdisciplinary partnerships and proposals can be submitted by a single institution or across organisations (and can include national and international academic and non-academic partners).

To discuss your application prior to submission please contact either SIPR Director Dr Andrew Wooff (a.wooff@napier.ac.uk) or SIPR Knowledge Exchange and Business Manager, Monica Craig (m.craig2@napier.ac.uk).

2. Anticipated timescale(s) for completion

Notifications of Intent to apply must be provided by 12^th September 2025.

The closing date for applications is Friday 3^rd October 2025.

Projects must be able to commence no later than Friday 31^st October 2025, must provide an Emerging Findings Report by Friday 27^th March 2026 and must be completed by Friday 31^st July 2026.

3. Value

A total of £20,000 will be available to one successful team. Proposals which include co-funding from other sources are welcome.

Application and Award Process

4. Application

A short application form is available to download here.

Strict word limits are in place for each section. Applications which go over the word limit will be excluded from consideration.

Applicants are required to complete the relevant application form (download from above link) including the following information:

Administrative Summary including:
- Working title
- Lead Institution
- Description of team – one paragraph per named investigator which details their relevant experience, expertise, and role in the proposed project.
Project Summary including:
- Description which details the project’s background, aims and objectives, methodology, and timeline and how it meets the core themes of the call.
- Description of the intended benefits and impacts of the project including clear indication of the expected outputs/ outcomes of the project.
- Where access to police data or personnel is required, a letter of support from Police Scotland (or the relevant external body) should be provided. Please ensure you contact Police Scotland’s Research and Strategy Team as earlier as possible to discuss (AcademicResearch@scotland.pnn.police.uk).
Budget Summary:
- Overview of proposed budget including a brief justification of resources required, any cash or in-kind contributions, and whether institutional overheads are waived.

5. Submission

Please ensure you submit your completed applications along with all attachments to sipr@napier.ac.uk ensuring you cc in SIPR Business and Knowledge Exchange Manager – Monica Craig m.craig2@napier.ac.uk by no later than 23:59 on Friday 3^rd October.

Any applications received after this time will not be considered by the panel.

6. Assessment

Applications will be subject to a review stage which will include assessment by an independent panel comprising of senior academics and members of the SIPR Executive Committee, including policing partners. Reviewers will be asked to score against four key criteria:

Suitability and expertise of investigative team (i.e., Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator’s experience and expertise in the field of study).
Suitability and quality of the planned methodological approach.
Feasibility (i.e., a project’s ambition and ability to deliver outcomes to budget and within timescales); and
Potential benefits/impact (i.e., project legacy and potential to influence policy and practice).

7. Criteria

Applications are welcome from researchers, with priority given to staff based at a SIPR member university.

Projects must be in place to commence no later than Friday 31^st October 2025. Applicants will also be required to report where this funding has enabled the generation of external income as well as where this project has been included as an impact case study.

8. Indicative Timeline

Timeline/ milestones	Date
Call Open	22nd August 2025
Deadline for Notifications of Intent to apply	12th September 2025
Closing date for applications	3rd October 2025
Grant awarded	17th October 2025
Latest start date	31st October 2025
Project and stakeholders initiation meeting	By 7th November 2025
Mid-grant update due	By 27th January 2026
Emerging findings report and KE activities	By 27th of March 2026
Final Draft of Report and Briefing Paper Submitted for Review	By 26th June 2026
Completion Date – Final Report Accepted and Published	31st July 2026

This call was developed by the Police Scotland Academic Research Team, with the support of SIPR., It will be funded by the Scottish Government, through Police Scotland and administered by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research.

Scottish Institute for Policing Research