Expert blog: Washing away labour exploitation in Britain’s hand car washes - lessons from NTU research for the next government

Our work in the hand car wash sector has led us to develop an academically rigorous estimate of the size and shape of the sector across the United Kingdom, about 5,000 in case you were wondering, alongside the inherent harms that occur within these, majority informal, non-compliant businesses.

Through fieldwork and statistical modelling we have provided robust evidence for partners to change the way we understand these harms and have tested ways to improve the sector so that the endemic wage theft, failure to pay business rates, lack of environmental protections and many other unlawful practices can be tackled.

Unfortunately we aren’t there yet - but we aren’t stopping.

At this point in time, we would not recommend any of you take your car to be washed at a hand car wash in your neighbourhood, but we want to be able to. There is potential to ensure the sector can be trusted to not only give you a good service but to also support its workers fairly.

Despite our work with Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee, the National Crime Agency, the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority and Office for the Director of Labour Market Enforcement sector partners to test ways to tackle unlawful activity in this problematic sector,  we haven’t managed to ensure the sector can deliver fair and lawful work for people working to wash your car.

Businesses often don’t hold insurance to move your cars, hold a license to use water commercially which means acids, soap and other all the dirt and grime from your car goes untreated, or pay anything near the minimum wage we would expect all workers to be paid across the UK.

We have supported multi-agency visits, evaluated voluntary improvement schemes to provide quality marks and provided research insights for agencies lobbying the government to tackle poor and unlawful practice which in small and localised ways have made a difference.

However, we want to change the system so we can say with confidence that each and every hand car wash you might use is safe, lawful and an asset to their community.

So our ask for the next government on the 5 July is to ensure the current legal minimums are fully and routinely enforced in a joined up way.

Our research highlights that the fragmented nature of the enforcement and regulation must be challenged and have always welcomed proposals for the development of a Single Enforcement Body which has been discussed by the current Government and within the Labour Party manifesto.*

We hope that this body gets the resources and scope to make a real difference to this sector and many others. We have seen multiple examples of how this fragmentation allows unlawful practice to flourish at hand car washes but also in many other sectors such as social care.

We also believe that the level of unlawful behaviour can’t be tackled in a piecemeal way. A whole-sector approach is needed. The Work, Informalisation and Place Research Centre is coming to the end of a project to scope out how a mandatory licensing scheme for all hand car washes could operate to improve hand car washes for workers and consumers.

Our research and engagement with sector partners highlights that there is supported for such a scheme which would bring all businesses up to a required standard to provide a safe and high quality services for customers and workers.

It is indicating that a scheme run through local authorities current licensing teams may be the best option and, whilst it may challenge some hand car wash business models (because they aren’t paying the minimum wage, taxes, insurance and trade effluent consents), we know it is possible to run compliant and profitable hand car washes based on a number of sector-leading businesses who went through the Responsible Car Wash Scheme.**

We look forward to continuing to work with sector partners to support the development of a compliant sector that would no longer be one of the regular at-risk sectors by the GLAA.

Rich Pickford, Professor Ian Clark and Dr James Hunter

*Since writing this piece the Labour spokesperson for Delivering A New Deal for Working People, Angela Raynor has set out Labour’s plan to create the Fair Work Agency – a version of the Single Enforcement Body which would combine The GLAA, the National Minimum Wage unit and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.

** The RCWS is unfortunately no longer operating due to a lack of progress by partners to improve the sector.