Rogue Builders

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier) for securing this important debate on protecting consumers from rogue builders—an issue that affects thousands of families, honest tradespeople and small businesses across the country.

In my constituency I have spoken to homeowners left heartbroken and out of pocket after rogue traders walked away leaving unfinished work, and skilled local tradespeople who tell me they are being undercut by those who cut corners, dodge taxes and disappear when something goes wrong. Every year, hard-working homeowners lose an estimated £1.4 billion through rogue traders, not to mention suffering emotional stress, anxiety and shattered trust. At the same time, those rogue operators undermine our legitimate, qualified tradespeople who play by the rules, pay their taxes, insure their work, and uphold professional standards and training. They damage the reputation of the entire construction and home improvement sector, making it harder for honest builders to win work and for consumers to know who to trust.

As in many parts of the country, residents in Portsmouth have been affected by rogue builders who exploit trust and cause real distress. The crimes often target vulnerable people, such as the elderly, or families just trying to improve their homes. In one case in my city, an elderly couple paid thousands of pounds from their pension savings for essential roof and patio repairs, only to be left with unsafe and unfinished work. They were forced to pay even more just to make their home liveable again. In another example, a family hired a builder to renovate their garage; instead of safely removing the asbestos roof, the contractor left open bags of hazardous material in a shared alleyway, putting neighbours and children at risk. The family had to pay for specialist clean-up and repairs, adding more financial strain to their emotional stress and worry.

In Copner, an area of my city, a local family’s home extension turned into a nightmare when the builder abandoned the project halfway through. He was meant to put a new kitchen in, but it became an unsafe shell that failed building inspection after building inspection, leaving the family out of pocket and living with disruption for years. Other residents across the city have been scammed by traders using multiple companies to take deposits for work that they have never finished—or, indeed, never started.

Those cases remind us that rogue builders not only cause financial loss, but damage confidence, safety and peace of mind. They also highlight the importance of checking credentials, avoiding doorstep deals, reporting suspicious activity and gaining our tradies from social media. Concerns have been raised about trade websites, but I commend Checkatrade and other industry bodies that are working to raise standards. Checkatrade, for example, has blocked 850 rogue traders from joining its platform in this year alone. It has also formed a primary authority partnership with trading standards, helping to strengthen consumer advice and set new benchmarks for best practice.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

A constituent of mine recently shared that she hired a builder who took payment for professional services—but everything about the work was fraudulent. She told me that she felt abandoned by a black hole of referrals, despite multiple agencies confirming that it was actually a criminal matter. The work is being investigated by a neighbouring trading standards, but that is taking far too long. Does my hon. Friend agree that the process of reporting and getting resolution has to be speeded up?

[Amanda Martin]

I absolutely agree. Voluntary measures only go so far, and the Competition and Markets Authority must step up to enforce this work.

The lack of consistent action against non-compliant trade recommendation sites undermines confidence, creates an unlevel playing field and ultimately hurts the very people we are here to protect—both consumers and legitimate businesses.

That brings me to another issue I have been campaigning on: tool theft. Just as rogue builders threaten trade in the industry, tool theft threatens its very foundation. Every van stolen, and every break-in on a building site or driveway, means another tradesperson unable to work, another small business losing its livelihood and another family struggling to make ends meet. More than 1 million tool theft incidents have occurred in the past five years. Tool theft costs the economy hundreds of millions, and fuels the black market and more rogue builders. I have been calling for a national register for stolen tools, mandatory marking and traceability requirements for high-value tools, and stronger police action and sentencing for repeat offenders. Protecting tradespeople from crime goes hand in hand with protecting our consumers from rogue builders: both rely on trust, fairness and accountability.

I urge the Government to take four steps: first, strengthen the enforcement of consumer protection laws and ensure that—

Oral Answers to Questions

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Thursday 30th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald]

I am familiar with Power Roll. I have met the chief executive, and my hon. Friend has advocated extremely well for the company. I have also met potential investors in the business. I am happy to discuss that further with him after questions today.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

In recent years, imported bricks have made up nearly 20% of the UK brick market, yet I know that organisations such as Ibstock Brick in North West Leicestershire can supply the bricks for the homes that we need. How do we make sure that UK brick manufacturers can maximise investment, employ local people and deliver the bricks that we need for the future?

[Chris McDonald]

I am determined that this Government’s grand ambition for building will ensure that we supply more UK bricks, have fewer imports, and increase the productivity of our brick kilns around the country, including at Ibstock. The key is getting energy prices down, and that is what we are working on for our industrial strategy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Thomas]

I sympathise with the hon. Member’s constituents on the difficulties that they face. On the challenges that he says they face with HMRC, he may want to get in contact with my colleague, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, who has responsibility for HMRC.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

At a panel discussion earlier this year, I joined a group of leading women in the hospitality sector, who repeatedly highlighted that the lack of female representation in leadership roles and ownership is a persistent barrier to progress in the sector. What steps is the Minister taking to support women in the hospitality industry into leadership and ownership roles?

[Gareth Thomas]

This is an important issue. The Invest in Women taskforce is looking at some of the very real barriers that women entrepreneurs face, both in hospitality and more generally. Access to finance is one of the challenges that we have heard back about. A fund is being put together to help women entrepreneurs with that, but we need to do more, and our SMEs strategy will set out our plans in that regard.

Horizon Redress and Post Office Update

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Tuesday 8th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Thomas]

The hon. Member will understand that I do not have the details about Tony’s case to hand, but he has asked me to review the way that the case has been handled. I am happy to do that. I am keen that complex cases are resolved fairly and as quickly as possible. I recognise that many sub-postmasters have been waiting a long time for compensation. We have made progress, but I recognise that there is more to do. I will happily look at Tony’s case after this and write to the hon. Member.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for his update on the progress to redress the victims of the Horizon scandal as well as the commitment to invest in new technology. In light of the sudden closure of a post office in Coalville in my constituency, what reassurance can the Minister give to current and prospective new postmasters that the Horizon system, which is still being used in post offices, is now fit for purpose?

[Gareth Thomas]

We are clear that we need to replace the Horizon system. As the whole House would expect, the Post Office is not taking any criminal action when there are shortfalls. There are processes for resolving issues around shortfalls in the Horizon system. Indeed, I referenced the postmaster panel and the way in which the Post Office management is working with sub-postmasters to help them to understand how shortfalls in the system are being dealt with going forward, so I hope that, slowly, we are taking the first steps to rebuild that trust.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds]

The simple position is that we will represent the UK’s national interest in this matter. The US has objections about its significant deficits in manufacturing goods with China and the EU, but that is not the relationship between the US and the UK, so there is a chance for the UK to pursue a different policy —one that produces greater benefits for every part of the UK than perhaps are available to other countries. Of course we are cognisant of the overall impact—no one wants to see this type of turmoil in the global economy—but our job is to deliver for the UK, and that is exactly what we are focused on doing.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

T8. Rural businesses in North West Leicestershire highlight the lack of accessible public transport, including having no passenger rail, as a barrier to attracting new employees and to growth. What conversations has the Minister had with the Department for Transport about the barriers that rural businesses are facing?

[Gareth Thomas]

We know that rural businesses want to see more investment in bus services and better transport infrastructure. My hon. Friend will appreciate that the Chancellor announced in the Budget some £650 million-plus in funding for local transport, which is designed to support everyday journeys and improve transport connections. I am sure, too, that she will welcome the better buses Bill, which is coming in to give local authorities—