Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of reported threats against Trading Standards officers made by criminal gangs.

Serious and organised crime has a direct and damaging impact on local communities, undermining legitimate businesses, fuelling wider criminality, and eroding public confidence in the safety and vitality of our high streets.

This Government will not tolerate threats against Trading Standards officers.

On 19 May, the Government announced a £30 million crackdown targeting cash intensive business such as barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops operating on our high streets, over three years. As part of this investment:

o Trading Standards will be backed with £6 million in new funding to bolster the response to sham businesses in at-risk local authorities. New officer training will be rolled out to identify suspicious businesses, strengthen business compliance and boost enforcement.

o A new cross government High Street Organised Crime Unit has been established to bring together government departments, policing partners and Trading Standards, to identify what more is needed – from stronger powers to better co-ordination – to stop this criminal activity from happening in the first place. The Unit is reviewing the full range of challenges that local responders face, including Trading Standards, with a view to strengthening the operational and strategic response.