£30 million of funding to tackle dodgy high street shops
Rogue barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops linked to organised crime will face raids, closures and cash seizures in a £30 million crackdown by police and trading standards over the next three years.
Under the government plans:
- £20m of funding will go towards the National Crime Agency and there will be 75 new police officers in three hotspot regions in the Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and Essex and Kent forces
- £6m of funding will go to trading standards
- The remaining £3.75m of the funding will be split between immigration enforcement, HMRC and the running of the unit.
A new High Street Organised Crime Unit has also been established to bring together government departments, policing partners, and Trading Standards. The unit will be responsible for identifying what more is needed to stop this criminal activity from happening (e.g. stronger powers, better co-ordination).
A review of local responders’ powers has been launched to explore how these can be strengthened, starting with a consultation on extending the duration of closure orders to shut criminal businesses down for longer.
