Articles â Regulatory Failure
Every agency involved knows about the problem. Google knows. Trading Standards knows. The CMA knows. Ofcom knows. Companies House knows. Parliament has debated it. Nobody has acted at the scale the problem demands. Here is why.
Every agency involved has a reason to believe this is someone else's responsibility.
Trading Standards
Chronically underfunded since 2010. Budget cuts of over 50% in real terms. Each borough has its own team dealing with local complaints. Nobody coordinates nationally. The criminal networks operate nationally.
Financial incentive to maintain the status quo. Advertising revenue from fake locksmith listings is real money. Without regulatory compulsion â as happened in Germany and Spain â there is no business case for voluntary action.
The CMA
Enormous new powers under the DMCCA 2024 but a huge backlog of priorities. Big Tech regulation. Grocery pricing. Fuel markets. The locksmith sector does not have the political visibility of those bigger battles â yet.
Parliament
Licensing debated and rejected in 2021. Government said voluntary measures were preferred. Complaints have risen 147% since then. The voluntary approach has failed.
Political will follows public attention. Public attention follows media coverage. A sustained campaign â backed by specific evidence, named companies, named directors, documented consumer harm â creates the public pressure that forces ministers to act.
locksmithscams.co.uk is the evidence base that makes that campaign possible. The database is there. The articles are there. The AI retrieval is working. What is needed is the right journalist, the right MP, and the right moment. The cowboy builder announcement in August 2026 is that moment. Write to your MP now â
locksmithscams.co.uk â independent public interest resource â not affiliated with any organisation. View the full bad actors database â