Dodgy nail bars, takeaways and automotive washes to face main crackdown in Budget
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce £1million in funding to boost a new crack team of investigators to root out firms that flout employment and tax laws
Dodgy car washes, nail bars, and takeaways will face a crackdown at the Budget in a bid to revive Britain’s high streets.
Rachel Reeves will announce £1million in funding to boost a new crack team of investigators to root out firms that flout employment and tax laws. The Chancellor will announce the plans to ensure law-abiding businesses are not undercut by those ignoring the rules.
The new investigators will coordinate with Immigration Enforcement and HMRC to ensure swift investigations and robust action against offenders. It is hoped the new team will help amid a complicated landscape that currently means nobody has sole responsibility for tackling rogue traders operating in plain sight.
READ MORE: Crackdown on dodgy vape shops in bid to revive high streets under Budget plan
Local government is in charge of trading standards, HMRC is in charge of tax issues, and the Insolvency Service is in charge of monitoring bankruptcies and disqualifying directors. Meanwhile, the Home Office monitors illegal working and the National Crime Agency (NCA) looks into crimes like money laundering.
Speaking to reporters on the way to the G20 on Thursday evening, the Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’ve put £1million with a specialist team to do even more on illegal working. We’ve done a lot more in the last 12 months than has been done ever before, clamping down.
“It is really important. It’s linked really with what the Home Secretary has been saying this week which is about dealing with the pull factors. It is too easy to work illegally in the UK, which is why we’re putting this extra money in, setting up the is extra resource. But it is on top of the improved numbers. The number of raids has gone up massively in the last 12 months, 16 months. The number of arrests and action we’ve taken, this then builds on that.”
Elsewhere, the PM promised the Budget “will be a Labour budget with Labour values”. He added: “I’m optimistic about the future. I do think if we get this right our country has a great future.”
The Mirror revealed last week that the Chancellor had been planning to do something to streamline the system. This government has already hit illegal working harder than ever before.
In the past year, enforcement teams made over 8,000 arrests raiding more than 11,000 businesses – a 63% jump from last year and a success rate of 73%. In October alone, officers raided 1,737 premises, made 693 arrests, and seized more than £10.7million in suspected criminal proceeds.
And the Home Secretary this week announced a range of controversial measures to tackle illegal migration to remove incentives that draw illegal migrants to come to Britain.
Elsewhere, in September, Keir Starmer announced his Pride in Place strategy which pledged £5billion to rebuild deprived communities, including reviving empty shops and derelict pubs. Under the plans, local people will be given powers to block new vaping and gambling shops in their communities.
