I am today announcing the launch of the Government’s high streets organised crime unit, a new cross-Government unit designed to strengthen our response to money laundering, tax evasion, illegal working and other forms of organised criminality taking place on our high streets.

The criminal exploitation of the high street has a significant impact on local communities, undermining the vibrancy and safety of neighbourhoods and eroding public trust in legitimate businesses. It undermines competition, discourages investment and contributes to the decline of once-thriving high streets. Residents feel less safe, while honest business owners struggle to compete against those circumventing the law.

The National Crime Agency assesses that it is likely that at least £1 billion is laundered through a wide range of high street businesses in the UK each year. Despite significant operational efforts currently under way across law enforcement and local partners, action has too often been fragmented and reactive in nature, with no single mechanism to drive a coherent, system-wide response.

To address this gap, the high streets organised crime unit has been convened to deliver a unified, strategic and system-wide response. The unit will bring together key Government Departments, policing partners and local authorities to deliver long-term policy solutions to high street organised criminality, enhance intelligence sharing, and support both communities and legitimate businesses to prosper.

In line with the commitment made at the autumn Budget, the work of the unit will be supported by £10 million of funding to enhance the operational response to money laundering and related organised crime on the high street. This funding will provide for:

An increase in National Crime Agency officers dedicated to tackling high street money laundering and associated criminality;

Dedicated operational activity by Greater Manchester police, West Midlands police, and by a joint Kent police and Essex police unit;

An annual national multi-agency crackdown on money laundering through the high street and associated criminality;

Increased local authority capacity to strengthen trading standards and wider business compliance on the high street;

An HMRC-led targeted surge against tax evasion and illicit finance on the high street; and

A communications and compliance campaign aimed at high street businesses, focused on raising awareness of illegal working.

Through this funding, the Government are empowering law enforcement agencies, local authorities and community partners to protect our high streets, disrupt criminal activity and support thriving local businesses. As a result of the funding, I expect to see:

A surge in enforcement targeting organised crime’s exploitation of high street businesses;

Local authorities, regulators and police equipped with the necessary tools, data and co-ordination to identify, investigate and disrupt high street criminality; and

Communities experiencing fewer harms and feeling more confident in their local high streets, supporting thriving businesses.

Tackling organised criminality on the high street is only one component of a larger strategy to revitalise the UK’s high streets. As such, this unit supports the work of the Government’s high streets strategy to protect communities and create resilient, thriving high streets, led by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

I will update the House on progress as the unit develops its strategic policy recommendations.

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