Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of whether particular types of retail outlets in high streets and town centres are used for money laundering from the sale of drugs.

The Government recognises that cash intensive businesses such as barber shops and nail bars can be exploited by criminals seeking to launder their criminal cash from serious and organised crime. Addressing cash-based money laundering is one of the strategic priorities of the National Economic Crime Centre which sits within the National Crime Agency, and who are currently working with partners to facilitate an increased operational response to this threat.

In parallel, the National Police Chiefs’ Council economic crime co-ordinators are engaged in the development of Clear Hold Build strategies to help police forces tackle serious and organised crime. Clear Hold Build aims to reclaim and rebuild neighbourhoods affected by organised crime, including tackling financial crime on the high street.