During an intensive week of action this month Immigration Enforcement teams carried out targeted visits to almost 300 rogue businesses suspected of employing illegal workers, with a particular focus on car washes. More than 130 operations receiving notices for employing illegal workers, and 85 illegal workers have been detained. According to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper many illegal workers live in squalid conditions on-site, earn far below the UK national minimum wage, work longer hours than legally allowed and may have entered the UK illegally, overstayed their visas or arrived under visitor conditions. The fact they are paid so little also allows their employers to undercut honest competitors who follow the law, and these businesses often do not pay their fair share in taxes to contribute to the economy. This operation is said to be part of a larger, ongoing effort to tackle illegal employment and exploitation of vulnerable people in the UK. More operations of this kind will be conducted in the near future. Unscrupulous employers are potentially liable to substantial financial penalties. The maximum civil penalty for employing illegal workers is £45,000 per worker for a first offence and £60,000 per worker for repeat violations. Immigration Enforcement teams also play a critical safeguarding role, working closely with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and other organisations to allow employees to report labour exploitation. Yvette Cooper said: “It is completely wrong that dodgy employers can work hand-in-glove with the smuggling gangs who risk people’s lives to bring them here illegally and push them into off-the-books employment. “These workers are sold complete lies by the gangs before being made to live and work in appalling conditions for a pittance. We are determined to put a stop to this, which is exactly why we have launched crackdowns such as this. While this operation marks an important step forward, our commitment to tackling this issue is ongoing. We will ensure those who break the rules face the full force of the law.” Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime at Immigration Enforcement, Eddy Montgomery said: “This operation shows how dedicated the Home Office is to protecting vulnerable people and holding employers accountable. “We’re dedicated to stopping exploitation by criminal gangs, ensuring vulnerable people receive the correct support and make sure that those who break the law face serious consequences. I’m incredibly proud of our teams across the country for their hard work and teamwork in preparing for and conducting this national operation.”

The UK seafood industry is being encouraged to share positive and uplifting stories to support a new campaign aimed at improving the public’s perceptions of seafood and its production. Seafish, the public body supporting the UK seafood industry, has this week launched Seafood for Life, an initiative that aims to help businesses or individuals in the sector share good news stories the public may not otherwise hear about. Seafish CEO Marcus Coleman said: “The UK seafood industry has told us it wants our support in helping them improve perceptions of seafood. “While we know the industry faces challenges, it is also clear that it is full of passionate people with remarkable stories to tell and we have developed Seafood for Life as a means of shining a light on these positive examples. “We’re asking people to get behind this new initiative and tell us their stories so we can create exciting content they can share to encourage the world to think better of seafood and the industry that gets it onto our plates. “Examples might include how the industry is responding to climate change, to managing end of life fishing gear or attracting new entrants to the industry; whatever the positive story, we want to hear about it.” He said positive stories might include technological and environmental advancements to help make the supply chain more efficient and resilient, stories around creating employment for communities, spreading the news of fish as a protein rich food source or industry case studies which help debunk myths. “We will then work with contributors to develop these inspiring stories into content including videos and photography, news, social media posts, fact sheets and more, to be shared with seafood businesses and help them communicate positively about the industry. The content will also be showcased in a new online Seafood for Life hub on our website.”

A key section of the M62, which carries about 120,000 vehicles a day, will be completely closed for two full weekends next month.

Between 9pm on Friday 6th September to 6am on Monday 9th September, and from 9pm on Friday 20th September to 6am on Monday 23rd September Network Rail will be replacing a railway bridge between junction 19 at Heywood and junction 20 at Rochdale.  Castleton bridge, which is almost 60 years old and carries the main railway line over the M62 between Manchester and Rochdale, is being demolished and replaced with a new bridge.

National Highways, which operates the M62, is working with Network Rail to ensure the work goes as smoothly as possible but is advising drivers that the two weekend closures will affect cross-Pennine travel plans with the motorway linking Liverpool and Hull as well as the cities of Manchester and Leeds in between.

Gary Farrell, National Highways’ senior network planner (resilience), said: “Network Rail clearly needs to replace what is an ageing bridge and a critical piece of the railways infrastructure supporting the important Manchester Victoria to Leeds service and other routes.

“We’ve been working with staff from Network Rail for many months to plan and publicise this work including the two full weekend closures. We are urging drivers to avoid this section of the M62 during the two weekends by delaying journeys or planning alternative routes – but anyone who does need to use the M62 over the two weekends should follow the official diversions and not rely on sat nav advice.”

Drivers heading across the Pennines over the two weekends are being urged to plan journeys – including checking for congestion or incidents before setting out.  Alternative trans-Pennine routes include the A69 between Carlisle and Newcastle, A66 Penrith to Scotch Corner and the Manchester to Sheffield link (M67/A57/A628/A616).

Confidence levels amongst the UK’s small firms fell back into negative territory in the second quarter of this year, wiping out improvements made at the start of the year, according to the Federation of Small Businesses. Tina McKenzie, FSB’s Policy Chair, said: “After a strong start to 2024, we were all hoping that the latest quarter would be just as positive for small businesses – if not more so. But sadly it was not to be. “Small businesses are looking with trepidation at the Government’s forthcoming plans to change employment, which could both increase risk around small businesses employing people, and the costs when they do. The rise of labour costs will hold back economic growth, and points to the possibility of a contraction in small business job numbers, which would be terrible news for firms, for staff, for local communities and the national economy. “Taxes and employment costs are already soaring for small employers. The Government should formally index the Employment Allowance to the rising living wage to help alleviate pressure on small firms and resolve the economic inactivity crisis. Every line in the Government’s employment plans must be checked for negative impact on growth and jobs. “The construction sector’s woes, with the lowest confidence reading among the major sectors, underpins our calls for more support for small housebuilders, such as reforming the consumer infrastructure levy, so small building firms can access the finance they need. The Government’s 1.5 million homes target cannot be achieved without new policies to unlock the potential of small housebuilders. “With reported revenues in the second quarter not matching the predictions small firms made at the start of the year, there are signs that the small business community found the going tough. “We’re still waiting for action from the Government on the long-running sore point for small firms of late payment. This could be tackled by giving audit committees of large firms oversight of payment practices in their annual reports – something that would not cost the Government a penny, but which could help millions of small businesses’ cashflow improve significantly. “Overall, the small business community is looking for reassurance from the Government that it is listening to their concerns, especially around tax and employment. “The fall in confidence among small firms is disheartening, but need not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. With the right support, we know that small businesses can thrive and drive the economic growth that the Government has said is its priority. “Now, as we head into the next quarter, we’re staring down the barrel at some tough challenges if we want to rebuild confidence. “The riots have left small businesses picking up the pieces, so to turn this around, the Home Secretary needs to facilitate fair treatment of SMEs by the insurance industry. Additionally, the Government and police commissioners need to work together to clearly explain how small businesses can claim lost earnings under the Riot Compensation Act.” FSB’s Small Business Index (SBI) for Q2 2024 saw the headline confidence reading tumble to -10.8 points, a fall of 16.3 points from Q1’s +5.5 points. Construction was the least optimistic of the main sectors, with a score of -20.7 points. The wholesale and retail sector was not far behind, on -19.5 points, a tumble from the +2.1 points registered in the first quarter. Accommodation and food services businesses saw their score slip from -11.8 points in Q1 to -15.9 in the most recent survey, while manufacturing firms went from a healthy +19.2 points in Q1 – the most positive main sector in that report – to -12.7 points in Q2, the biggest sectoral swing between the two quarters. Information and communication sector firms fell to -9.2 points from +7.1 in the previous quarter, while professional, scientific and technical businesses declined from +14.3 points in Q1 to -2.6 points in Q2, making them the least negative of the major sectors. Looking ahead to Q3, revenue expectations have significantly moderated, with over a third of small firms (34.7%) anticipating an increase in their takings, and three in ten (30.1%) preparing for a decrease. Growth aspirations for the coming year were also more or less in line with Q1, with over half of small firms (54.1%) saying they expect to grow over the next 12 months (Q1: 52.4%), and over one in eight (13.3%) saying they expect to contract (Q1: 12.6%). The proportion expecting to grow is the highest reading on this measure since Q2 2021. Small firms once again pointed to the domestic economy as the most commonly-cited barrier to growth, picked by three in five small businesses (60.5%) – but this is a slight fall from the 64.6% registered in Q1, and could indicate a very slender easing of fears about the economy. Consumer demand was selected as a barrier to growth by a similar percentage in Q2 (34.6%) as in Q1 (35.6%), although labour costs (up from 26.3% in Q1 to 28.5% in Q2) and the tax burden (up from 19.2% in Q1 to 22.2% in Q2) edged upwards as concerns.