UK has a plan to ensure illegal immigrants don't work as food delivery agents

On Wednesday, the UK Home Office announced a new deal with food delivery companies like as Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats that would guarantee they get latest details on the locations of asylum hotels to assist combat unlawful employment in the country.

Any delivery riders who are detected sharing their accounts with migrants who do not have the right to work in the UK face suspension under existing security procedures. The new Home Office agreement pledges to go farther in catching more people who flout the laws.

“Illegal working undermines honest business, exploits vulnerable individuals and fuels organised immigration crime,” said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

“Data sharing with delivery companies, we are taking decisive action to close loopholes and increase enforcement. The changes come alongside a 50 per cent increase in raids and arrests for illegal working under the Plan for Change, greater security measures and tough new legislation,” she said.

The new government agreement aims to empower private firms to go further in detecting patterns of misuse, identifying unauthorised account sharing, and quickly suspending accounts.

The move follows the corporations’ pledge to introduce new security measures during a cabinet roundtable meeting last month. This includes expanded facial verification and fraud detection systems, ensuring that only verified users will be able to access their platforms.

“This next step of coordinated 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,” said Eddy Montgomery, Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime at the Home Office.

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Official figures released this week claim that there have been more than 10,000 illegal working visits across multiple sectors over the past year, leading to 7,130 arrests, up around 50 per cent compared to the year before. This marks the first time in a 12-month period where more than 10,000 visits have taken place, the Home Office said.

“Almost 750 illegal working civil penalty notices were also handed to businesses caught violating immigration rules in the first quarter of the year, marking the highest level since 2016 – and an 80 per cent increase compared to the same time last year,” it states.

It comes as the government works towards tightening the law by making it a legal requirement for all companies, including the short-term contracts-based gig economy, to check that anyone working for them has the legal right to do so. This is aimed at ending the abuse of flexible working arrangements, with the new measures to be introduced through the landmark Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

It forms part of a series of measures introduced in recent weeks to clamp down on the large number of migrants living and working illegally in the UK.