Overview

• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper ordered intelligence-led checks from July 4 across the UK to target asylum seekers suspected of working illegally in delivery services.
• Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have agreed to expand facial recognition and fraud detection after ministerial talks to vet gig workers more strictly.
• Asylum seekers caught working unauthorised in taxpayer-funded accommodation can lose state support, including housing and payments.
• Employers found hiring unauthorised workers face fines of up to £60,000 per person, director disqualification and prison sentences of up to five years.
• More than 20,600 migrants have crossed the Channel this year, a 52% rise from 2024, prompting the government to tackle illegal gig work as a pull factor.