Managing water demand through non-essential use bans can only be granted if there is a risk of a serious deficiency of water supply due to an exceptional shortage of rain and following a thorough assessment process which considers detailed advice from the Environment Agency. Water companies that wish to apply to limit non-essential uses of water are responsible for assessing the volumes of water savings in their NEUB application and cost benefit analysis. The impact on commercial businesses that may be impacted will be considered as part of any assessment of whether a non-essential use ban is agreed.

The government is creating the Fair Work Agency, which will enhance the enforcement of employment rights across sectors, including hand car washes. As announced in the Budget, the Agency will establish a dedicated 'hidden economy' team which will target sectors with multiple regulatory breaches, starting with hand car washes.

The initiative will address employment rights violations while collaborating with relevant enforcement authorities to protect workers and support legitimate businesses operating within the law.

The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery across all sectors, including hand car washes.

The Home Office funds the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which operates a national licensing scheme in certain high-risk sectors to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation. The GLAA has specially trained officers with police-style powers to prevent, detect, and investigate serious labour exploitation across the entire economy in England and Wales.

The Government is improving the enforcement of employment rights by establishing the Fair Work Agency (FWA) through the Employment Rights Bill. The FWA will bring together the GLAA, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Team. This will ensure a more cohesive and streamlined response to exploitation.

The FWA will have strong powers to investigate and take action against a range of labour market abuses, including serious exploitation and modern slavery. This includes new powers to investigate under the Fraud Act 2006.

The Government takes illegal working and worker exploitation very seriously and is committed to tackling non-compliance in high-risk sectors, including car washes. Immigration Enforcement activity has intensified over the past year, with enforcement teams carrying out over 11,000 visits to businesses across all sectors suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 51% increase. These resulted in more than 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

These figures demonstrate that enforcement is having a significant impact in disrupting this illegal activity. However, challenges remain, including the informal nature of the sector. To strengthen outcomes, the forthcoming Fair Work Agency will bring a cross-government response to improve intelligence sharing to increase co-ordination across enforcement bodes.

The Government recognises that car washes can present a risk of being exploited for money laundering and other illicit financial activity. Recent enforcement activity led by the National Crime Agency (Operation MACHINIZE) has identified links between some car washes being used for money laundering and grey economy. As part of targeted enforcement, the National Crime Agency works closely with law enforcement partners, including immigration enforcement to disrupt these activities and strengthen compliance. This approach forms part of a wider strategy to tackle organised crime, protect vulnerable workers, and ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Civil penalties for illegal working remain the principal sanctions for tackling non-compliance and are designed to hold non-compliant employers to account and disrupt illegal working activity. The Home Office will actively pursue debt recovery action in every case. If the employer does not pay the penalty in full or by instalments when due, the penalty will be passed to our external specialist debt recovery agents, registered with the civil court, after which enforcement action will commence. This includes a pre-legal and legal debt recovery strategy where enforcement officers have the powers to apply a range of additional tools including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Third Party Debt Orders and Orders to Obtain Information.

The Home Office publishes online, on a quarterly basis, details of all employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty and have not paid or are not making regular payments towards the penalty.

Immigration Enforcement acts on intelligence and applies sanctions where immigration offences occur, including civil penalties up to £60,000 per illegal worker, criminal convictions with up to 5 years’ imprisonment, business closure, director disqualification, loss of sponsorship rights, and seizure of illegal earnings. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service to hold non-compliant directors to account and consider them for disqualification. Migrants working illegally face up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment (England and Wales) or 6 months (Scotland and Northern Ireland) and/or a fine.

The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of car washes that have been permanently closed or the number of owners jailed for employing illegal workers in each year.

The Government takes illegal working and worker exploitation very seriously and is committed to tackling non-compliance in high-risk sectors, including car washes. Immigration Enforcement activity has intensified over the past year, with enforcement teams carrying out over 11,000 visits to businesses across all sectors suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 51% increase. These resulted in more than 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

These figures demonstrate that enforcement is having a significant impact in disrupting this illegal activity. However, challenges remain, including the informal nature of the sector. To strengthen outcomes, the forthcoming Fair Work Agency will bring a cross-government response to improve intelligence sharing to increase co-ordination across enforcement bodes.

The Government recognises that car washes can present a risk of being exploited for money laundering and other illicit financial activity. Recent enforcement activity led by the National Crime Agency (Operation MACHINIZE) has identified links between some car washes being used for money laundering and grey economy. As part of targeted enforcement, the National Crime Agency works closely with law enforcement partners, including immigration enforcement to disrupt these activities and strengthen compliance. This approach forms part of a wider strategy to tackle organised crime, protect vulnerable workers, and ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Civil penalties for illegal working remain the principal sanctions for tackling non-compliance and are designed to hold non-compliant employers to account and disrupt illegal working activity. The Home Office will actively pursue debt recovery action in every case. If the employer does not pay the penalty in full or by instalments when due, the penalty will be passed to our external specialist debt recovery agents, registered with the civil court, after which enforcement action will commence. This includes a pre-legal and legal debt recovery strategy where enforcement officers have the powers to apply a range of additional tools including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Third Party Debt Orders and Orders to Obtain Information.

The Home Office publishes online, on a quarterly basis, details of all employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty and have not paid or are not making regular payments towards the penalty.

Immigration Enforcement acts on intelligence and applies sanctions where immigration offences occur, including civil penalties up to £60,000 per illegal worker, criminal convictions with up to 5 years’ imprisonment, business closure, director disqualification, loss of sponsorship rights, and seizure of illegal earnings. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service to hold non-compliant directors to account and consider them for disqualification. Migrants working illegally face up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment (England and Wales) or 6 months (Scotland and Northern Ireland) and/or a fine.

The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of car washes that have been permanently closed or the number of owners jailed for employing illegal workers in each year.

The Government takes illegal working and worker exploitation very seriously and is committed to tackling non-compliance in high-risk sectors, including car washes. Immigration Enforcement activity has intensified over the past year, with enforcement teams carrying out over 11,000 visits to businesses across all sectors suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 51% increase. These resulted in more than 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

These figures demonstrate that enforcement is having a significant impact in disrupting this illegal activity. However, challenges remain, including the informal nature of the sector. To strengthen outcomes, the forthcoming Fair Work Agency will bring a cross-government response to improve intelligence sharing to increase co-ordination across enforcement bodes.

The Government recognises that car washes can present a risk of being exploited for money laundering and other illicit financial activity. Recent enforcement activity led by the National Crime Agency (Operation MACHINIZE) has identified links between some car washes being used for money laundering and grey economy. As part of targeted enforcement, the National Crime Agency works closely with law enforcement partners, including immigration enforcement to disrupt these activities and strengthen compliance. This approach forms part of a wider strategy to tackle organised crime, protect vulnerable workers, and ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Civil penalties for illegal working remain the principal sanctions for tackling non-compliance and are designed to hold non-compliant employers to account and disrupt illegal working activity. The Home Office will actively pursue debt recovery action in every case. If the employer does not pay the penalty in full or by instalments when due, the penalty will be passed to our external specialist debt recovery agents, registered with the civil court, after which enforcement action will commence. This includes a pre-legal and legal debt recovery strategy where enforcement officers have the powers to apply a range of additional tools including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Third Party Debt Orders and Orders to Obtain Information.

The Home Office publishes online, on a quarterly basis, details of all employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty and have not paid or are not making regular payments towards the penalty.

Immigration Enforcement acts on intelligence and applies sanctions where immigration offences occur, including civil penalties up to £60,000 per illegal worker, criminal convictions with up to 5 years’ imprisonment, business closure, director disqualification, loss of sponsorship rights, and seizure of illegal earnings. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service to hold non-compliant directors to account and consider them for disqualification. Migrants working illegally face up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment (England and Wales) or 6 months (Scotland and Northern Ireland) and/or a fine.

The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of car washes that have been permanently closed or the number of owners jailed for employing illegal workers in each year.

The Government takes illegal working and worker exploitation very seriously and is committed to tackling non-compliance in high-risk sectors, including car washes. Immigration Enforcement activity has intensified over the past year, with enforcement teams carrying out over 11,000 visits to businesses across all sectors suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 51% increase. These resulted in more than 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

These figures demonstrate that enforcement is having a significant impact in disrupting this illegal activity. However, challenges remain, including the informal nature of the sector. To strengthen outcomes, the forthcoming Fair Work Agency will bring a cross-government response to improve intelligence sharing to increase co-ordination across enforcement bodes.

The Government recognises that car washes can present a risk of being exploited for money laundering and other illicit financial activity. Recent enforcement activity led by the National Crime Agency (Operation MACHINIZE) has identified links between some car washes being used for money laundering and grey economy. As part of targeted enforcement, the National Crime Agency works closely with law enforcement partners, including immigration enforcement to disrupt these activities and strengthen compliance. This approach forms part of a wider strategy to tackle organised crime, protect vulnerable workers, and ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Civil penalties for illegal working remain the principal sanctions for tackling non-compliance and are designed to hold non-compliant employers to account and disrupt illegal working activity. The Home Office will actively pursue debt recovery action in every case. If the employer does not pay the penalty in full or by instalments when due, the penalty will be passed to our external specialist debt recovery agents, registered with the civil court, after which enforcement action will commence. This includes a pre-legal and legal debt recovery strategy where enforcement officers have the powers to apply a range of additional tools including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Third Party Debt Orders and Orders to Obtain Information.

The Home Office publishes online, on a quarterly basis, details of all employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty and have not paid or are not making regular payments towards the penalty.

Immigration Enforcement acts on intelligence and applies sanctions where immigration offences occur, including civil penalties up to £60,000 per illegal worker, criminal convictions with up to 5 years’ imprisonment, business closure, director disqualification, loss of sponsorship rights, and seizure of illegal earnings. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service to hold non-compliant directors to account and consider them for disqualification. Migrants working illegally face up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment (England and Wales) or 6 months (Scotland and Northern Ireland) and/or a fine.

The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of car washes that have been permanently closed or the number of owners jailed for employing illegal workers in each year.

In the view of the Home Office, the most important safeguard is the right-to-work checks. That is why we will strengthen them under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill that is making its way through Parliament, but that will have to be underpinned with rigorous enforcement. That is why I am pleased that enforcement visits are up 50% in the past year, as are arrests.

Last year, a report by the charity Justice and Care highlighted that a lack of regulation allows unscrupulous business owners to exploit vulnerable people. Nottingham Trent University showed that 90% of hand car wash businesses operate in a way that makes them high risk for forced or compulsory labour. Will the Government consider licensing sectors such as hand car washes to improve compliance and prevent illegal workers and modern slavery?

The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery across all sectors, including hand car washes.

The Responsible Car Wash Scheme, partly funded by the Home Office, sought to enhance compliance, and investigate non-compliance in the car wash sector. As part of the scheme, a Car Wash Code of Practice was developed in collaboration with the sector to test the effectiveness of different interventions in raising standards.

As the scheme has concluded, the Government is assessing these evaluations to understand how both to bolster compliance, and support sector-led initiatives. The Government and enforcement bodies, such as the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, continue to support industry initiatives aimed at improving standards, while also cracking down on individual carwash operators employing and exploiting illegal workers.

It is the responsibility of hand car wash businesses to ensure that they are not polluting the environment as a result of their activities. This is set out in guidance on Gov.uk.

Chemicals in car wash products may become classed as waste (including containers with residual chemicals in them). A site operator will need to establish if this is the case and ensure that Hazardous Waste Regulations are followed in respect of correct disposal.

For discharges to water and sewerage company networks, a site operator may need to apply for a trade effluent consent from the water and sewerage company. If a discharge is to surface water drain/sewer, or the ground, a permit under Environmental Permitting Regulations may be required.

If a hand car wash business were to cause an environmental incident, the Environment Agency would respond to the incident as it would any other environmental incident. The Environment Agency responds to substantiated reports of environmental incidents and will take appropriate action under the enforcement and sanctions policy dependent on the nature and severity of any offence. The Environment Agency enforcement and sanctions policy can be found on Gov.uk.

The Department of Business and Trade does not currently have any plans to make the Responsible Car Wash Scheme’s Code of Practice mandatory.

I also refer the member for South Shropshire to the answer I provided to UIN 21371 on 9 January for further information.

The Hand Car Wash sector is one of Office of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (ODLME) priority areas. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) have taken a proactive stance working closely with the Responsible Hand Car Wash scheme and Nottingham Trent University to understand the issues and maximise opportunities to address them within current legislation.

As the scheme has concluded, the Government is assessing these evaluations to understand how both to bolster compliance, and support sector-led initiatives. The Home Office and enforcement bodies, such as the GLAA, continue to support industry initiatives aimed at improving standards.

The government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK, including the sectors highlighted by the Rt Hon Gentleman.

Since this government came to office, Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have charged six individuals with employing illegal workers, compared to just four in the previous two and a half years combined. Those six charges may represent progress on the dismal record of inaction seen under the previous government, but they still add up to an unacceptably low rate of enforcement against businesses employing, and in many cases exploiting, illegal workers, and we are therefore determined to go further over the coming months and years.

As part of this, we are also determined to establish a more comprehensive, accurate and up to date evidence base of the scale and nature of illegal working in the UK, which we hope will in due course allow us to provide robust answers to the questions raised by the Rt Hon Gentleman concerning the estimates of the number of people working illegally in specific, high-risk sectors and industries.

The Home Office funded the evaluation report conducted by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme and Nottingham Trent University, as part of its grant funding under the Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, a one-off pot of funding to build the evidence base on what interventions work to prevent modern slavery.

The Home Office has shared the evaluation of this project with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority so the lessons from this project can be incorporated into operational activity to improve standards within the hand car wash sector. The Government has no plans to respond directly to the report.

In addition, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) sets out the scale and nature of labour exploitation in their annual strategy to ensure the three labour market enforcement bodies are targeting the highest-risk industries. The most recent 23-24 DLME strategy highlights hand car washes as a sector at risk of labour exploitation.

The Home Office funded the evaluation report conducted by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme and Nottingham Trent University, as part of its grant funding under the Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, a one-off pot of funding to build the evidence base on what interventions work to prevent modern slavery.

The Home Office has shared the evaluation of this project with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority so the lessons from this project can be incorporated into operational activity to improve standards within the hand car wash sector. The Government has no plans to respond directly to the report.

In addition, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) sets out the scale and nature of labour exploitation in their annual strategy to ensure the three labour market enforcement bodies are targeting the highest-risk industries. The most recent 23-24 DLME strategy highlights hand car washes as a sector at risk of labour exploitation.

The Government takes reports of labour exploitation and illegal working practices very seriously, including in the car wash sector.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests in England and Wales, as part of the annual “Police Powers and Procedures: Stop and search and arrests” statistical bulletin, available here: Stop and search and arrests, year ending March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Statistics on arrests for modern slavery in connection with labour sectors, such as car washes, are not systematically collected or recorded.

Statistics on modern slavery exploitation sub-types are not currently systematically collected by the National Referral Mechanism, and are only recorded under broad exploitation categories (for example, labour, criminal, sexual).

The Home Office funds the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which has specially trained officers with police-style powers to prevent, detect and investigate serious labour exploitation across the entire economy in England and Wales.

Since 01 January 2018, the GLAA has recorded 27 intelligence reports linked to car washes in Sheffield.

The Government takes reports of labour exploitation and illegal working practices very seriously, including in the car wash sector.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests in England and Wales, as part of the annual “Police Powers and Procedures: Stop and search and arrests” statistical bulletin, available here: Stop and search and arrests, year ending March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Statistics on arrests for modern slavery in connection with labour sectors, such as car washes, are not systematically collected or recorded.

Statistics on modern slavery exploitation sub-types are not currently systematically collected by the National Referral Mechanism, and are only recorded under broad exploitation categories (for example, labour, criminal, sexual).

The Home Office funds the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which has specially trained officers with police-style powers to prevent, detect and investigate serious labour exploitation across the entire economy in England and Wales.

Since 01 January 2018, the GLAA has recorded 27 intelligence reports linked to car washes in Sheffield.

The Government takes reports of labour exploitation and illegal working practices very seriously, including in the car wash sector.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests in England and Wales, as part of the annual “Police Powers and Procedures: Stop and search and arrests” statistical bulletin, available here: Stop and search and arrests, year ending March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Statistics on arrests for modern slavery in connection with labour sectors, such as car washes, are not systematically collected or recorded.

Statistics on modern slavery exploitation sub-types are not currently systematically collected by the National Referral Mechanism, and are only recorded under broad exploitation categories (for example, labour, criminal, sexual).

The Home Office funds the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which has specially trained officers with police-style powers to prevent, detect and investigate serious labour exploitation across the entire economy in England and Wales.

Since 01 January 2018, the GLAA has recorded 27 intelligence reports linked to car washes in Sheffield.

We expect all businesses to follow the law, including providing fair pay and working conditions for their employees. We are tackling exploitation in the labour market, especially by increasing funding for enforcement bodies to more than £35 million a year, and we will continue to keep the position of hand car washes under close review.