ACS has welcomed the Environmental Audit Committee’s report into hand car washes, which recommends the government takes further action to tackle illegal hand car wash operators.
The report recommended: “To make enforcement easier, the Government should trial a licensing scheme for hand car washes that brings together all of the major compliance requirements, including on environmental pollution, into a single, more easily enforceable, legal requirement.”
ACS chief executive, James Lowman said: “We welcome the Committee’s focus on clamping down on illegal hand car wash operators who fail to comply with environmental regulations and employment law”.
“In principle we support the introduction of a licensing system for hand car washes and in our evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee earlier this year, we urged them to consider how such a system could address non-compliant operators while ensuring that it does not impose undue burdens on those who are compliant. If the government decides to take forward the Committee’s recommendation to trial a licensing system for hand car washes, we will work closely with them on its implementation”
The Environmental Audit Committee also welcomed the launch of the Responsible Car Wash Scheme, which will enable consumers to choose a fully compliant operator, that has been through the accreditation process and verified by audits and spot-checks.
Commenting on the Responsible Car Wash Scheme, ACS chief executive, James Lowman said: “ACS continues to support voluntary schemes to improve compliance in the hand car wash sector including the Safer Car Wash App and the recently launched Responsible Car Wash Scheme.”
The full Environmental Audit Committee report is available here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmenvaud/981/981.pdf
ACS previously responded to the Environmental Audit Committee’s call for evidence on hand car washes. The full submission is available here: https://cdn.acs.org.uk/public/lobbying/acs_submission_-_hand_car_washes.pdf
