Fury as Home Office 'refuses to help' companies block migrants from working illegally

Ministers have refused to share the locations of asylum hotels with delivery companies looking to clamp down on illegal work due to “safety concerns”. Deliveroo made the request to Dame Angela Eagle, the minister for border security and asylum, and Home Office officials after a Daily Express investigation uncovered migrant hotels were being used as a base for delivery workers from multiple companies.

Many of those seen using branded bikes to deliver food were residents of asylum hotels and are banned from working during the first 12 months of their application, unless a decision is made sooner. Deliveroo is reported to have assured the Home Office that they would treat the data confidentially whilst using it to clamp down on the illegal gig economy but civil servants rejected their appeals citing “safety concerns”. The Home Office took the view that sharing the information would put residents of hotels in danger.

Deliveroo claims to have “led the sector in introducing security measures to prevent illegal working on our platform” and last month the firm attended a roundtable with the Home Office and other delivery firms to engage on plans to combat the practice.

Earlier this month, the Home Office announced a “nationwide blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots with a focus on the gig economy and migrants working as delivery riders.

Firms are understood to be making sweeping changes to the way in which they operate, including strengthening identity checks, and increasing facial verification checks.

The changes will make it harder for riders without the legal right to work to use the accounts of others to access jobs on the apps and will include driver identity checks at irregular intervals each day.

Home Secretary Yvette 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.”

They claimed that 748 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.

Katie Lam, the shadow Home Office minister has previously accused delivery firms of turning a blind eye to illegal working but praised their recent efforts to crackdown.

She said: “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.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “This government will not stand for illegal working. It undercuts honest businesses and supports the operations of people smuggling gangs, which is why arrests nationwide have increased by approximately 50%, and why tough new laws are being introduced to end the abuse of flexible working arrangements.

“We are working alongside Deliveroo and other firms to deepen our cooperation, and, building on last month’s roundtable, we are exploring what more we can do to address this criminality.

“That includes improved information sharing to enhance the targeting of illegal working hotspots.”

A Deliveroo spokesman said: “Deliveroo has led the sector in introducing security measures to prevent illegal working on our platform. We continue to go further to strengthen our controls, as determined and sophisticated criminals seek new ways to exploit all platforms’ systems.”