Data from the Illegal Immigration Unit at the Home Office showed that 78 hand car washes across the UK had been fined a total of nearly £1.5 million for ‘right to work’ offences in the first nine months of 2023.Brian Madderson, Chairman of the Car Wash Association (CWA), said: “It is disappointing that even in the face of blatant violations of the law, the Government is still unwilling to crack down on illegal hand car wash operators.
Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association, has warned that record pump prices are almost certain to be eclipsed before the end of October. The current record prices of 142ppl for petrol and 148ppl for diesel were set in April 2012. Experian Catalist UK averages for 19 October were 141.35ppl and 144.84ppl respectively.
The Petrol Retailers and Car Wash Associations represent the 5,350 independent forecourt operators and specialist car wash companies across the UK. This covers 65 per cent of the total fuel outlets (PFS). Many of these sites have Automated Car Washes (ACW). The PRA does not represent the standalone Hand Car Washes (HCW), which on occasion may breach Covid-19 regulations as well as ones covering tax, employment and the environment.
Ending the sale of new petrol, diesel, and hybrid cars and vans by 2035 or earlier would not only be unfeasible but seriously economically damaging, particularly at a time when the economy is struggling to recover from the Coronavirus lockdown. The original date of 2040 is already a very tough ask”, said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
The Supreme Court unanimously decided in favour that ATMs at existing shops should not be subject to separate business rates assessment on 20 May. “We are delighted that the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of retailers, meaning that they will now be rightly owed around £500 million in business rates refunds,” said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
Tomorrow, Matthew Taylor, the interim director of the Office for Labour Market Enforcement (OLME) will call for tighter regulations on the UK’s hand car washes, by introducing a national licensing scheme in order to combat the prevalence of human trafficking, poor working conditions and environmental concerns, amongst other issues.
The PRA has written to Sajid Javid MP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a case for cutting road fuel duty by 2 pence per litre in the first Budget of the new Government.
Senior sources have confirmed that the Government would announce the 2ppl fuel duty cut later this year – the first reduction of the motoring tax in eight years. “The PRA has welcomed hints carried by national media that the Treasury may be considering fuel duty cuts in the upcoming Autumn Budget”, said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
“The PRA is pleased to see that forecourt crime is now back on the police’s agenda, following a productive meeting with chief constable Simon Cole of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC)”, said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
“The PRA is disappointed to see that the Supreme Court has agreed to allow the government’s Valuation Office Agency (VOA), the right of appeal against last year’s defeat in the long-running dispute with major supermarkets over business rates and ATMs.”, said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA). In November 2018 the Court of Appeal ruled that ATMs located both inside and outside of stores should not be assessed for additional business rates on top of the normal store rates costs, retailers are already facing. The VOA appealed on the grounds that ATMs facing outward shouldn’t be exempt, and should count towards overall business rates, making the bills higher.
Brian Madderson, chairman of the Car Wash Association (CWA), welcomed the latest report from the Clewer Initiative, the anti-slavery arm of the Church of England, which showed nearly 1000 reports of potential human trafficking made via their mobile app.
“The CWA is disappointed to see that the Government has produced so little evidence to back up its claims that HMRC is enforcing tax compliance at hand car washes”, said Brian Madderson, chairman of the Car Wash Association (CWA), commenting on the publication of the Government’s response to the Environmental Audit select committee report into the hand car wash sector.
The Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA) is seeking urgent confirmation from the Treasury that petrol filling stations (PFS) will be eligible for small business rates relief announced in the Budget. This request comes after some confusion in the 2013 Budget, when the Treasury did not specifically include PFS as one of the eligible business categories. The PRA had to intervene to obtain formal confirmation that, subject to State Aid de minimis limits and the rates threshold, the discount scheme was applicable.
The Car Wash Association has welcomed the launch of the Responsible Car Wash Scheme. The scheme “should prove valuable for improving compliance in existing hand car washes,” comments Brian Madderson, chairman of the CWA.
There are now an estimated twelve to fifteen thousand hand car washes in the UK. The Car Wash Association states that more than ninety per cent are unregulated. “It is extraordinary that we are virtually the only EU country where illegal hand car washing has proliferated over the last ten years to the extent seen across the UK. This must result from the failure of key agencies to enforce their own regulations”, said Car Wash Association chairman, Brian Madderson, giving evidence in Parliament recently.
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