With the election looming, the Car Wash Association (CWA) has been lobbying parliament over proposed changes to the industry. The CWA, supported by the

Remarkable Group, has been approaching senior political figures, prospective MP’s, government departments and civil servants to highlight the problems affecting its members.

According to the association, it recently held a meeting with Conservative MP Christopher Fraser, and a number of questions and responses have since been recorded in Hansard, the official register of the House of Commons.

Topics on Fraser’s list included:

1. "Illegal Immigrants: Car Washes", regarding the number of civil penalties issued by the UK Border Agency to hand car washe operators for employing illegal workers in 2009.

2. "Drains", asking the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs "for what reasons the Environment Agency has not introduced its General Binding Rules in England and Wales to prevent the abuse of the drainage system from non-agricultural, commercial and domestic industries in accordance with its original timetable."

And: 3. "Taxation: Car Washes", with the Chancellor of the Exchequer asked "what estimate he has made of the (a) value added tax, (b) corporation tax and (c) income tax revenue foregone as a result of illegal car washing operations in each of the last three years".

For a full list of the exchanges on Hansard, visit www.publications.parliament.uk.