Latest news with #illegalWorking
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
Home Office crackdown on illegal working via delivery apps
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a nationwide immigration enforcement crackdown targeting illegal working in the gig economy. Officers will conduct checks in hotspots across the UK, focusing on asylum seekers suspected of working as delivery riders without permission. Following discussions with ministers, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat will increase facial verification and fraud checks on their platforms. Asylum seekers found working illegally risk losing state support, while businesses employing them face fines of up to £60,000 per worker and potential prison sentences. The initiative aims to counter a 'pull factor' for illegal immigration, with the Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticising the government for delayed action.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Home Office orders ‘nationwide blitz' on asylum seekers working for delivery apps
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a nationwide immigration "enforcement crackdown" aimed at tackling illegal working in the gig economy. Officers will conduct checks in hotspots across the country, specifically targeting asylum seekers suspected of working as delivery riders without permission. This initiative follows discussions with ministers, leading Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat to announce they will ramp up facial verification and fraud checks in the coming months. Last week the shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, claimed in a post on X to have found evidence of people working illegally for the food delivery firms during a visit to a hotel used to house asylum seekers. On Saturday, the Home Office said anyone caught 'flagrantly abusing the system in this way' will face having state support discontinued, whether entitlement to accommodation or payments. 'Strategic, intel-driven activity will bring together officers across the UK and place an increased focus on migrants suspected of working illegally whilst in taxpayer-funded accommodation or receiving financial support,' the Home Office said. 'The law is clear that asylum seekers are only entitled to this support if they would otherwise be destitute.' Businesses who illegally employ people will also face fines of up to £60,000 per worker, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years. Asylum seekers in the UK are normally barred from work while their claim is being processed, though permission can be applied for after a year of waiting. It comes as the Government struggles with its pledge to 'smash the gangs' of people-smugglers facilitating small boat crossings in the English Channel, which have reached record levels this year. Some 20,600 people have made the journey so far in 2025, up 52 per cent on the same period in 2024. Ms Cooper said: 'Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages, the British public will not stand for it and neither will this Government. 'Often those travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by the people-smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in this country, when in reality they end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours. 'We are surging enforcement action against this pull factor, on top of returning 30,000 people with no right to be here and tightening the law through our Plan for Change.' Home Office director of enforcement, compliance and crime, Eddy Montgomery, said: 'This next step of co-ordinated activity will target those who seek to work illegally in the gig economy and exploit their status in the UK. 'That means if you are found to be working with no legal right to do so, we will use the full force of powers available to us to disrupt and stop this abuse. There will be no place to hide.' Deliveroo has said the firm takes a 'zero tolerance approach' to abuse on the platform and that despite measures put in place over the last year, 'criminals continue to seek new ways to abuse the system'. An Uber Eats spokesperson has said they will continue to invest in tools to detect illegal work and remove fraudulent accounts, while Just Eat says it is committed to strengthening safeguards 'in response to these complex and evolving challenges.' Responding to the announcement, Mr Philp said: 'It shouldn't take a visit to an asylum hotel by me as shadow home secretary to shame the Government into action.' He added: 'The Government should investigate if there is wrongdoing by the delivery platforms and if there is a case to answer, they should be prosecuted. 'This is a very serious issue because illegal working is a pull factor for illegal immigration into the UK – people smugglers actually advertise it.' Mr Philp also said women and girls were being put at risk because deliveries were being made to their homes by people 'from nationalities we know have very high rates of sex offending', without specifying which nationalities he was referring to.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Home Secretary orders UK-wide illegal working ‘crackdown'
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a nationwide immigration 'enforcement crackdown' to target illegal working in the gig economy. Officers will carry out checks in hotspots across the country where they suspect asylum seekers are working as delivery riders without permission. It comes after Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat said they would ramp up facial verification and fraud checks over the coming months after conversations with ministers. Last week, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, claimed in a post on X to have found evidence of people working illegally for the food delivery firms during a visit to a hotel used to house asylum seekers. On Saturday, the Home Office said anyone caught 'flagrantly abusing the system in this way' will face having state support discontinued, whether entitlement to accommodation or payments. 'Strategic, intel-driven activity will bring together officers across the UK and place an increased focus on migrants suspected of working illegally while in taxpayer-funded accommodation or receiving financial support,' the Home Office said. 'The law is clear that asylum seekers are only entitled to this support if they would otherwise be destitute.' Businesses who illegally employ people will also face fines of up to £60,000 per worker, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years. Asylum seekers in the UK are normally barred from work while their claim is being processed, although permission can be applied for after a year of waiting. It comes as the Government struggles with its pledge to 'smash the gangs' of people smugglers facilitating small-boat crossings in the English Channel, which have reached record levels this year. Some 20,600 people have made the journey so far in 2025, up 52 per cent on the same period in 2024. Ms Cooper said: 'Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages. The British public will not stand for it and neither will this Government. 'Often those travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by the people-smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in this country, when in reality they end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours. 'We are surging enforcement action against this pull factor, on top of returning 30,000 people with no right to be here and tightening the law through our Plan for Change.' Eddy Montgomery, director of enforcement, compliance and crime at the Home Office, said: 'This next step of co-ordinated activity will target those who seek to work illegally in the gig economy and exploit their status in the UK. 'That means if you are found to be working with no legal right to do so, we will use the full force of powers available to us to disrupt and stop this abuse. There will be no place to hide.' Deliveroo has said the firm takes a 'zero-tolerance approach' to abuse on the platform and that despite measures put in place over the last year, 'criminals continue to seek new ways to abuse the system'. An Uber Eats spokesman said the company will continue to invest in tools to detect illegal work and remove fraudulent accounts, while Just Eat said it is committed to strengthening safeguards 'in response to these complex and evolving challenges'. Responding to the announcement, Mr Philp said: 'It shouldn't take a visit to an asylum hotel by me as shadow home secretary to shame the Government into action.' He added: 'The Government should investigate if there is wrongdoing by the delivery platforms and if there is a case to answer, they should be prosecuted. 'This is a very serious issue because illegal working is a pull factor for illegal immigration into the UK – people smugglers actually advertise it.' Mr Philp also said women and girls were being put at risk because deliveries were being made to their homes by people 'from nationalities we know have very high rates of sex offending', without specifying which nationalities he was referring to.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Cooper orders ‘crackdown' on suspected illegal working for delivery apps
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a nationwide immigration 'enforcement crackdown' which the Government says will target illegal working in the gig economy. Officers will carry out checks in hotspots across the country where they suspect asylum seekers are working as delivery riders without permission. It comes after Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat said they would ramp up facial verification and fraud checks over the coming months after conversations with ministers. Last week the shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, claimed in a post on X to have found evidence of people working illegally for the food delivery firms during a visit to a hotel used to house asylum seekers. On Saturday, the Home Office said anyone caught 'flagrantly abusing the system in this way' will face having state support discontinued, whether entitlement to accommodation or payments. 'Strategic, intel-driven activity will bring together officers across the UK and place an increased focus on migrants suspected of working illegally whilst in taxpayer-funded accommodation or receiving financial support,' the Home Office said. 'The law is clear that asylum seekers are only entitled to this support if they would otherwise be destitute.' Businesses who illegally employ people will also face fines of up to £60,000 per worker, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years. Asylum seekers in the UK are normally barred from work while their claim is being processed, though permission can be applied for after a year of waiting. It comes as the Government struggles with its pledge to 'smash the gangs' of people-smugglers facilitating small boat crossings in the English Channel, which have reached record levels this year. Some 20,600 people have made the journey so far in 2025, up 52% on the same period in 2024. Ms Cooper said: 'Illegal working undermines honest business and undercuts local wages, the British public will not stand for it and neither will this Government. 'Often those travelling to the UK illegally are sold a lie by the people-smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in this country, when in reality they end up facing squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours. 'We are surging enforcement action against this pull factor, on top of returning 30,000 people with no right to be here and tightening the law through our Plan for Change.' Home Office director of enforcement, compliance and crime, Eddy Montgomery, said: 'This next step of co-ordinated activity will target those who seek to work illegally in the gig economy and exploit their status in the UK. 'That means if you are found to be working with no legal right to do so, we will use the full force of powers available to us to disrupt and stop this abuse. There will be no place to hide.' Deliveroo has said the firm takes a 'zero tolerance approach' to abuse on the platform and that despite measures put in place over the last year, 'criminals continue to seek new ways to abuse the system'. An Uber Eats spokesperson has said they will continue to invest in tools to detect illegal work and remove fraudulent accounts, while Just Eat says it is committed to strengthening safeguards 'in response to these complex and evolving challenges.' Responding to the announcement, Mr Philp said: 'It shouldn't take a visit to an asylum hotel by me as shadow home secretary to shame the Government into action.' He added: 'The Government should investigate if there is wrongdoing by the delivery platforms and if there is a case to answer, they should be prosecuted. 'This is a very serious issue because illegal working is a pull factor for illegal immigration into the UK – people smugglers actually advertise it.' Mr Philp also said women and girls were being put at risk because deliveries were being made to their homes by people 'from nationalities we know have very high rates of sex offending', without specifying which nationalities he was referring to.
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Home Office raids Titanic Loft Lines apartments as part of immigration enforcement
The Home Office has arrested almost 150 people during immigration enforcement raids at workplaces across Northern Ireland since July 2024, new figures News NI understands 36 people were arrested at the Loft Lines complex in the Titanic Quarter in Graham Group is one of the main building contractors on the is understood that those arrested did not work for the News NI put a number of questions to the Graham Group about the raid but a spokesperson said they would not be issuing any response. Figures released by the Home Office show that between 5 July 2024 and 31 May 2025, 113 visits resulted in 148 arrests. This marked a 48% rise compared to the year department said it was part of "a drive to combat illegal working" with a particular focus on tackling employers facilitating illegal working, often subjecting migrants to squalid conditions and illegal working hours below minimum nail bars and construction sites have been among the thousands of businesses targeted. Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said the government was "committed to tackling illegal working as we intensify our enforcement efforts to disrupt organised immigration networks at every level"."There must be no hiding place from the law and these figures demonstrate our determination to curb immigration offending and disrupt unscrupulous employers," she added."Under our Plan for Change, we are laser focused on fixing our immigration system and securing our borders once and for all." BBC News NI understands that a major co-ordinated operation reported in March, took place at the Loft Lines ranged from breaching visa conditions to illegal entry in the UK with no permission to Lines is a three-block apartment development located at Queen's Island in the docks area of the city, on land which used to form part of the Harland and Wolff majority of the 778 apartments will be privately owned and rented out to tenants, but up to 20% of the properties will be constructed as social, affordable homes. Developers The lead developers of the site are Lacuna Developments and Watkin Jones Group PLC, while Graham Group are leading on Jones PLC declined to Developments have been approached for comment by BBC News development has previously been criticised for blocking the view of Belfast's Titanic museum as the apartments are being built in front of News NI understands that 30 of the individuals arrested elected to leave the UK have been placed on immigration bail and are now required to report regularly to the Home Office.A 16-year-old boy was also being supported by local individual arrested on suspicion of immigration offences has been bailed pending further investigation.
