Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the level of money laundering through high street cash-intensive businesses.

This question was answered on 21st May 2026
The 2025 National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing highlighted that cash‑based money laundering remains a risk in the UK, including through cash‑intensive businesses.

As announced at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government is strengthening its response to suspected illegal activity on the high street, including in premises such as mini‑marts, barber shops, vape shops, nail bars and car washes. The Government has provided an additional £10 million per year over the next three years to support stronger enforcement, building on the success of Operation Machinize, which resulted in over £1 million in frozen assets, the seizure of £40,000 in cash and 35 arrests.

This week, the Government launched the High Streets Organised Crime Unit: a cross‑government taskforce which will develop interventions to disrupt money laundering and related criminality on the high street.