Home Office to share data on asylum hotel locations with food delivery companies in bid to tackle illegal working
The Home Office will share information about asylum hotel locations with food delivery companies to tackle suspected hotspots of illegal working.
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A new agreement with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats will see information about high-risk areas shared to help them uncover abuse on their platforms and quickly suspend accounts.
Currently delivery riders discovered to be sharing their accounts with asylum seekers have their profiles suspended.
The latest measures hope to crack down further on the practice.
The gig economy firms have also been increasing real-time identity and right to work checks which has led to thousands of workers being taken off the platforms, the Home Office said.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp claimed last month to have found evidence of people working illegally for the food delivery firms during a visit to a hotel used to house asylum seekers.
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.
Delivery firms met Home Office bosses earlier this month to discuss the concerns of abuse in the sector.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "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."
The three delivery companies said they were fully committed to working with the Home Office and combatting illegal working.
Ministers promised a "nationwide blitz" to target migrants working illegally as part of efforts to deter people from coming to the UK from France.
Officials hope to tackle the "pull factors" attracting migrants to the UK alongside the deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month to send some people who reach England in small boats back to France.
More than 23,500 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel so far in 2025, a record for this point in the year.