Nottingham car washes far from squeaky clean

A worker suspected of being a victim of human trafficking was taken into the care of authorities and a variety of other possible offences uncovered during an operation led by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) into hand car wash businesses across Nottingham.

The GLAA, described as the country’s anti-slavery police, was accompanied by officers from Nottinghamshire Police, Nottingham City Council and HMRC as it visited four different sites yesterday. (TUES)

Issues were discovered at a number of the city sites with investigations continuing into possible modern slavery offences as well as breaches of tax, National Minimum Wage and Health and Safety legislation.

Car wash workers were interviewed and concerns registered about a number who were unwilling to engage with officers on the day.

One victim – a Romanian male - did agree to enter the National Referral Mechanism, a platform to provide assistance to those who have been shown to be victims of Human Trafficking.

 GLAA Senior Investigating Officer Dave Powell said: “Hand car washes have been highlighted as a major area of concern by the GLAA and a number of our partner agencies. Sadly, that analysis is proving to be correct.

“We’ve carried out a number of car wash visits recently and it is rare that we find one that is without issues.

 “As well as the potential victim that we removed from exploitation, we identified others who may well have been trafficked for labour exploitation but were reluctant to cooperate. We will continue to engage with these individuals and provide support to them.”

He added: “These latest findings are a real cause for concern. I would like to thank the police, council and HMRC for working with us on this occasion and am sure this will be the first of many similar days of action across the country.”

As well as the car wash sites, officers visited a three-bedroomed house that was home to eight Romanian workers. The property was considered to be overcrowded and in poor condition by the City Council’s Safer Housing team who prevented it from being used as a dwelling by issuing a Prohibition Order under the Housing Act.

The council officers issued a similar legal notice for the office building on one of the car wash sites which was being used as living accommodation by one of its workers.

Issues were also uncovered relating to possible tax, VAT and National Minimum Wage offences and HMRC’s Hidden Economy team will now investigate.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

• Strengthening the GLAA through the Immigration Act 2016 forms part of wider Government reforms to labour market enforcement.
• On 30 April 2017, the provisions to give the GLAA’s Labour Abuse Prevention Officers (LAPOs) powers under the Police and Crime Evidence Act 1984 came into force. This means that LAPOs can use these powers to investigate labour market offences, including modern slavery across the economy.
• Labour market offences are offences under the following legislation: Employment Agencies Act 1973, the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 and Parts 1 and 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
• The GLAA was previously the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), formed following the deaths of 23 cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay in 2004. The GLA’s remit was to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable workers within the fresh produce sector – agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and all associated processing and packaging.
• You can find out more about the role of the GLAA by visiting our website and how to spot the signs of forced labour by clicking here.