6 days ago
Home Office plan to share asylum hotel locations with food delivery firms is 'pointless' and will be 'ineffective' at stopping migrants working illegally, lawyers say
A Government plan to crack down on illegal migrant delivery riders by sharing the location of asylum hotels with food delivery companies is 'pointless' and 'ineffective', immigration lawyers warned today.
The Home Office yesterday struck up a new agreement with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats, where officials will share information about hotels in high-risk areas to help delivery companies uncover illegal working and suspend accounts.
It comes after it was revealed how asylum seekers in taxpayer-funded hotels were raking in hundreds as delivery riders within days of crossing the Channel illegally on small boats.
The scheme is aimed at stopping delivery riders sharing their accounts with migrants who do not have the right to work in the UK. Asylum seekers are not allowed to work for the first 12 months of being in the UK or until their application is approved.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Labour party were taking 'decisive action to close loopholes and increase enforcement'.
But, immigration lawyers today questioned how effective the crackdown will be as they called for a 'much tougher approach' over this 'blunt tool'.
Emma Brooksbank, an immigration partner at Freeths, told MailOnline the agreement is 'expected to be ineffective'.
She added: 'The intention is that Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats will quickly cancel accounts which are noted to be repeatedly active in high-risk areas, around asylum seeker hotels.
'It will not be difficult for illegal workers to bypass this restriction and avoid detection, thereby making the agreed data sharing pointless.'
Ms Brooksbank said the 'gig ecomony operators are largely unregulated' and have 'no real incentive to clean up their act'.
She added: 'The simple fact is that gig economy companies do not know who is using their app, and who is engaging with their customers under their brand name, making illegal work easy, effortless, and undetectable, which acts as a draw for illegal migrants to continue to arrive in small boats from France.
The Government needs to take a much tougher approach, she said, suggesting companies must be held responsible and heavily fined for 'facilitating illegal work'.
Angela Sharma, a barrister at Church Court Chambers, agreed telling MailOnline: 'Sharing information about the locations of asylum hotels may help identify hotspots where illegal working is more prevalent, but it's a blunt tool.
'The real issue lies in the ease with which delivery accounts can be sublet and exploited. Without stricter enforcement on platform verification and stronger deterrents for account sharing, this remains a systemic loophole.
'A tougher, more targeted approach that also holds companies accountable is needed to genuinely tackle the problem.'
Sacha Wooldridge, partner and head of immigration at Birketts LLP, said data sharing 'will presumably enable stronger enforcement of penalties against those found to be acting unlawfully' and 'enable targeted police resourcing to higher crime locations'.
But she added: 'If companies are already checking all drivers and substitute drivers on a daily basis, knowing the location of the hotels isn't likely to have a material impact.'
And Victoria Welsh, partner and head of business immigration at Taylor Rose, said although the move is 'positive', the issue is 'wider than simply restricting access to legal employment.'
Insisting the new scheme will bring about change, Home Secretary Ms Cooper said last night: 'Illegal working undermines honest business, exploits vulnerable individuals and fuels organised immigration crime.
'By enhancing our data sharing with delivery companies, we are taking decisive action to close loopholes and increase enforcement.
'The changes come alongside a 50% increase in raids and arrests for illegal working under the Plan for Change, greater security measures and tough new legislation.'
Last month it emerged that migrants living in taxpayer-funded asylum hotels – including those who arrived by small boat – are securing work as fast food delivery riders within hours of entering Britain.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said he had found evidence of asylum seekers breaking rules which bar them from working while their claim is processed by the Home Office.
The Tory politician visited an asylum hotel in central London and posted a video showing bicycles fitted with delivery boxes for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats parked outside.
Days later, the Home Office said it had called in all three companies for a dressing down – and the meeting led to pledges to introduce 'facial recognition' systems on rider apps, such as those used by banks to confirm someone's identity.
However, Deliveroo was refused access to hotel location data despite assurances it would be treated confidentially, the Times reported.
Shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said at the time: 'The fact that the Home Office is refusing to help them just shows how topsy-turvy this country's approach to migration has become.
'Crossing the Channel illegally is a crime. Working here illegally is a crime.
'Too many people are brazenly breaking the rules and it's a disgrace that the Home Office is aiding and abetting them.'
Eddy Montgomery, Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime at the Home Office, said: 'This next step of co-ordinated working with delivery firms will help us target those who seek to work illegally in the gig economy and exploit their status in the UK.
'My teams will continue to carry out increased enforcement activity across the UK and I welcome this additional tool to disrupt and stop the abuse of our immigration system.'
The Government has also announced the trialling of AI-powered facial recognition technology to determine whether Channel migrants are being wrongly identified as children.
The Home Office announced testing on new technology will begin later this year with the hope it could be fully integrated into the asylum system in 2026.
Ministers admitted that assessing the age of asylum seekers is 'an incredibly complex and difficult task' but said AI might soon provide quick and cost-effective results.
More than 23,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, up more than 50 per cent on the same point last year and the highest number in the first six months since figures began in 2018.
The Home Office says there are 32,345 asylum seekers being put up at taxpayer expense in hotels, with another 66,683 in houses and flats.
