Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to launch a major offensive against rogue businesses in the upcoming Budget, pledging a significant cash injection to fund a specialist enforcement squad.
A New Enforcement Squad
The Chancellor will announce £1 million in funding to bolster a new, crack team of investigators. Their mission is to root out and take action against firms operating in sectors like car washes, nail bars, and takeaways that are flouting employment and tax laws.
This initiative is designed to create a level playing field, ensuring that law-abiding businesses are no longer undercut by competitors who ignore the rules. The new team will work closely with Immigration Enforcement and HMRC to coordinate swift investigations and ensure robust action is taken against offenders.
Tackling a Complex Enforcement Landscape
The move aims to simplify a currently fragmented system where responsibility for tackling rogue traders is split across multiple agencies. At present, local government handles trading standards, HMRC deals with tax issues, and the Insolvency Service monitors bankruptcies.
Meanwhile, the Home Office focuses on illegal working and the National Crime Agency (NCA) investigates serious crimes like money laundering. This new team is intended to provide a more focused and effective response to a problem that has been operating in plain sight.
Government Action and Wider Context
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, speaking to reporters en route to the G20, emphasised the government's commitment. "We’ve put £1million with a specialist team to do even more on illegal working," he stated. He highlighted that enforcement actions have already intensified, with the number of raids, arrests, and seizures of suspected criminal proceeds increasing dramatically over the past 12 to 16 months.
This Budget crackdown aligns with other recent government announcements, including the Home Secretary's measures to tackle illegal migration and the Prime Minister's Pride in Place strategy, which pledged £5 billion to rebuild deprived communities. This broader plan includes reviving empty shops and giving local people more power to block new vaping and gambling shops in their areas.
The government's data underscores its current efforts: in the past year, enforcement teams made over 8,000 arrests by raiding more than 11,000 businesses. This represents a 63% jump from the previous year. In October alone, officers raided 1,737 premises, made 693 arrests, and seized more than £10.7 million in suspected criminal proceeds.
