Organised Crime: Retail Trade
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to help improve coordination between police forces and local authorities to tackle criminal enterprises operating through high street businesses.
Answered by Sarah Jones
We are fully committed to tackling criminality on the high street from illegitimate businesses. It is for this reason that the Home Office, working with the Ministry for Communities, Housing and Local Government, has established a cross-government Taskforce to develop a strategic policy response to money laundering and associated illegality on UK high streets. This effort is underpinned by £10 million per year for three years, as announced in the 2025 Autumn Budget. This funding will be used to enhance support for at least 45 additional law enforcement officers, and enhancements to Trading Standards. As part of this uplift the Taskforce is considering how to enhance police and local authority coordination.
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