Tag: Yvette Cooper

Nationwide clampdown on delivery riders working illegally

‘Ramp-up’ of arrests and visits set to take place across the UK targeting migrants working illegally

Enforcement teams are gearing up to launch a nationwide blitz targeting illegal working hotspots, with a focus on the gig economy and migrants working as delivery riders.

Under the Government’s Plan for Change to restore order to the immigration system and tougher enforcement of the rules, Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams will launch a major operation to disrupt this type of criminality.  

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 law is clear that asylum seekers are only entitled to this support if they would otherwise be destitute. That is why anyone caught flagrantly abusing the system in this way, as a result of the operation, will face having support discontinued, whether that’s entitlement to accommodation or payments. 

Operational teams will target certain hotspots across the country over a period of intensification, as well as going after organisations who wilfully employ those working illegally, through civil penalty referrals. Any business found to be illegally employing someone could face a fine of up to £60,000 per worker, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.     

The Government has been surging action against illegal working since coming into power one year ago, with 10,031 illegal working visits leading to 7,130 arrests, marking a 48% and 51% rise respectively, compared to the year before (5 July 2023 to 28 June 2024). This marks the first time in a 12-month period where more than 10,000 visits have taken place. 

748 illegal working civil penalty notices were also handed to businesses caught violating immigration rules in the first quarter (January to March) of the year, marking the highest level since 2016 – an 81% increase compared to the same time last year.  

And the Government is tightening the law by making it a legal requirement for all companies, including the gig economy, to check anyone working for them has the legal right to do so. This will end the abuse of flexible working arrangements. The new measures will be introduced through the landmark Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

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.

“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.

“But there is no single solution to the problem of illegal migration. That’s why we’ve signed landmark agreements with international partners to dismantle gangs and made significant arrests of notorious people smugglers.”

Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime, Eddy Montgomery, said: “Our dedicated Immigration Enforcement officers have been ramping up action to disable illegal working across the board.

“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 bring the full force of powers available to us to disrupt and stop this abuse. There will no place to hide.”

This targeted action is on top of ongoing work across the country to disrupt people flouting the rules across different sectors. 

Earlier this week, during a joint operation with the Metropolitan Police to go after people suspected of working illegally as cash in hand builders, officers targeted anti-social behaviour and illegally modified scooters and e-bikes.

20 Indian nationals were arrested as part of the operation. This included 16 overstayers, one illegal entrant, one port absconder and two small boat arrivals. 

On 18 June, West Midlands teams conducted an operation on Smethwick High Street after receiving intelligence on a major collection point for people suspected of going to work illegally, primarily on construction sites.

The team encountered 73 individuals, arresting 26 suspected immigration offenders (24 Indian nationals, one Nepalese national and one Italian national). This led to the detention of 11 Indian nationals.  

And on 12 June, East of England teams conducted a multi-agency operation with police in Lynn Road, Wisbech, focusing on cash in hand builders using illegally modified e-bikes. They carried out 21 immigration checks which resulted the arrest of three men, including one Syrian, one Chinese and one Brazilian national.

The police went on to seize six mopeds and one car for offences including driving with no insurance, no driving licence and disqualification. 

The crackdown also sits alongside key join up with the delivery industry on tackling illicit account sharing. On Monday, 30 June , the Home Office and Department for Business and Trade met with major delivery firms and pledged to strengthen security checks to tackle illegal working.

Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have committed to increasing the number of daily facial recognition checks riders are required to take to verify their identity.  

Illegal working is linked to exploitation, with teams often encountering squalid living conditions, people receiving little to no pay and inhumane working hours. In the worst instances, these individuals may be victims of modern slavery. 

Immigration Enforcement take a number of steps to spot the signs of individuals who are potentially being exploited and, where appropriate, will refer people to the National Referral Mechanism so they can access support. They also work closely with crucial partners like the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority, to share insights and strengthen the approach to tackling labour exploitation.

And this new operation is just one part of the government’s action to strengthen UK border security and disable the people smuggling gangs fuelling illegal migration. 

Over the past year, the government says the Prime Minister has been resetting relationships and forging partnerships across Europe and beyond, to ensure a targeted international response in breaking the model behind this vile trade. 

Furthermore, nearly 30,000 people with no right to be in UK have been returned, landmark agreements have been signed with Iraq to dismantle gangs and Italy to take down illicit finance networks and a world-first people smuggling sanctions regime has been launched to ban travel and freeze assets.

New powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour in England

New Respect Orders will see repeat perpetrators of anti-social behaviour subject to tough restrictions

Hooligans who wreak havoc on local communities will face tough restrictions under new powers announced by the Home Secretary today.  

Meeting a manifesto pledge to crack down on anti-social behaviour, the new Respect Orders will give the police and local councils powers to ban persistent offenders from town centres or from drinking in public spots such as high streets and local parks, where they have caused misery to local people. These will be piloted prior to national rollout to make sure they are as effective as possible.

Perpetrators can also be required to address the root cause of their behaviour by being mandated to undertake positive rehabilitation, such as attending drug or alcohol treatment services, or an anger management course to address the underlying causes of their behaviour. 

Failure to comply with Respect Orders will be a criminal offence. Police will have the ability to immediately arrest anybody who is breaching their Respect Order.

Police will also be given stronger powers to seize vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour will also be strengthened, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing the vehicles which bring misery to local communities. 

This will allow police to deal more swiftly with the scourge of off-road bikes in public parks and dangerous e-scooters on pavements, street racing and cruising. It will also assist the police in tackling car meets, which can see hundreds of cars gather in public spaces that often include loud aggressive engine revving and intimidating music. 

Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper said: “Too many town centres and neighbourhoods across our country are being plagued by anti-social behaviour, be it street drinking, harassment or vandalism on the high street or noisy and intimidating off-road bikes terrorising our estates.

“Antisocial behaviour chips away at communities’ sense of confidence and pride, undermines local businesses and can have a devastating impact on victims.  

“This cannot be allowed to continue. Respect Orders will give police and councils the powers they need to crack down on repeated anti-social behaviour, keeping our communities safe and ensuring repeat offenders face the consequences of their actions. We will also make it easier to seize the vehicles causing misery in too many neighbourhoods, including deafening off-road bikes or e-scooters ridden dangerously on the pavement. 

“These new powers alongside thousands more neighbourhood officers and PCSOs will help this government deliver on our mission to take back our streets.”

As well as prison sentences of up to two years, criminal courts will also be able to issue unlimited fines and community orders, such as unpaid work, and curfews as punishment for breaching a Respect Order. This will ensure that the most serious offenders are dealt with before their behaviour can escalate and cause further harm.

The new powers will be introduced as part of the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill, partially replacing existing Civil Injunction powers for adults, to ensure a wider range of penalties as breaches will be dealt with in the criminal courts, alongside the new power of arrest. Existing legislation will be amended to allow the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes – and other vehicles which are used in an anti-social manner – without having to first give a warning to the offender.

Enhanced powers will complement the government’s commitment to restoring neighbourhood policing in England and Wales. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will bring back police patrols to town centres, recruit thousands of additional officers to neighbourhood roles and ensure every community has a named local officer to turn to.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Anti-Social Behaviour, said: “I welcome the introduction of Respect Orders and stronger powers to seize vehicles being driven in an anti-social manner.

“Respect Orders will give the police and councils the ability crack down on those who persistently make our streets and public spaces feel unsafe. I am pleased to see the ability to ban offenders from our high street and parks, with a power of arrest for those who ignore such direction, as well as the power to require individuals to seek help for underlying causes of their poor behaviour such as drug or alcohol misuse.

“Similarly, giving officers the option to immediately seize vehicles from those who use their vehicle in an anti-social manner is welcome addition to the powers available to officers to crack down on ASB and make our street safer.”

Harvinder Saimbhi, ASB Help CEO said: “As the national charity that supports victims of ASB, we regularly hear from victims who share with us the impact and harm they experience from repeated incidents of ASB.

“We welcome the approach of addressing the root causes of the anti-social behaviour which will in turn work towards reducing reoffending rates, therefore bringing respite to victims and communities. We are keen to see how the respect orders will be implemented.”

Home Secretary sets out ‘moral imperative’ to stop smuggling gangs

The Home Secretary convenes ministers and law enforcement partners to destroy the gangs that undermine border security and risk lives on small boats

The Home Secretary will convene a landmark operational summit of cabinet ministers and law enforcement partners today (Friday 6 September), as she sets out the moral imperative to destroy the criminal smuggling gangs making millions out of small boat crossings.    

Her comments come after the horrific tragedy in the Channel this week that saw the deaths of at least 12 people, with others reported to be still in a critical condition.    

The Home Secretary will be joined at the NCA headquarters in London by ministers including the Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Attorney General Lord Hermer, as well as representatives from the National Crime Agency (NCA), Border Force and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).   

The UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) is deploying formidable covert capability to support the NCA to penetrate and dismantle the gangs at every level of operation – from facilitators to financiers.   

UKIC will also attend this landmark meeting, which will set out the progress being made on intensifying the enforcement activity aimed at disrupting, intercepting and destroying the criminal network moving people, boats and engines into Europe and across the continent to the French coastline.    

Ministers and law enforcement partners will examine the findings from the analysis commissioned by the Home Secretary on the operational capabilities of the criminal smuggling gangs. Discussion will also be focused on collaboration with European enforcement agencies, including Europol, and plans will be put forward to rapidly enhance this through the government’s new Border Security Command in the coming months.  

NCA Director General Graeme Biggar will highlight how close co-operation with the Bulgarian authorities and an established NCA presence in that critical transit country has led to more than 40 small boats and engines being intercepted in recent weeks. This material, now removed from the smuggling supply chain, could have enabled up to 2,400 people to attempt the deadly crossing.    

He will also set details of around 70 further live investigations, including:    

  • working with the Libyan police to target gangs trafficking migrants through Libya, with raids on warehouses where migrants are housed, often in appalling conditions, before making their onward journey to Europe
  • collaboration with French authorities to investigate the death of a woman killed in an overloaded boat on 28 July

This meeting led by the Home Secretary comes as she spoke to her French counterpart, Gérald Darmanin, this week to discuss increased co-operation to dismantle the gangs.  

Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “Exploiting vulnerable people is at the heart of the business model of these despicable criminal smuggling gangs. Women and children were packed into an unsafe boat which literally collapsed in the water this week.

“At least 12 people were killed as part of this evil trade. We will not rest until these networks have been dismantled and brought to justice. 

“The last two months has seen encouraging progress, with significant seizures of boats and equipment in Europe. But there is work to do, and the Border Security Command will bring all the relevant bodies together to investigate, arrest and prosecute these networks, as well as deepen our ties with key international partners.   

“At the same time, we are swiftly removing those with no right to be in the UK, which will ensure we have a fair, firm and functioning asylum system where the rules are respected and enforced.”

NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said: “People smuggling puts lives in mortal danger.   

“As well as arresting suspects and seeing our investigations lead to convictions and sentences, we’re operating around the world to disrupt the perpetrators. This includes helping seize more than 410 small boats and engines since last spring, preventing thousands of crossings.    

“Tackling the callous criminals behind organised immigration crime is one of the NCA’s highest priorities. We continue to expand our activity to deliver ever greater impact against the threat.”

In recent weeks, the Prime Minister has led a ‘reset’ in the relationship with Europe, with work to increase security co-operation and tackle illegal migration at the heart. This has already led to a 50 per cent uplift in the number of NCA officers stationed in Europol, working on organised immigration crime.    

Last week, the Home Secretary announced an additional 100 specialist investigators to disrupt people smuggling globally. In addition to the Europol presence, the NCA has enhanced its international liaison officer network, responsible for cracking down on criminal networks in specific areas.    

A new post is open in Austria and officers are being permanently deployed to Romania. Headcount is also increasing in South East Asia, in key countries where gangs are advertising Channel crossings. These are just the first steps of an intensification of the UK’s international law enforcement and bilateral partnership arrangements and serves as a platform for Border Security Command operations.   

The tragedy off the French coast on Tuesday 3 September highlights the increasingly extreme measures the gangs are willing to contemplate, as more people are crammed into less seaworthy vessels. It has been reported that most of those who died were women and children.  

Intelligence reveals smugglers have also increased the price they charge for migrants to cross the Channel, including charging for children to get into boats, as the business model comes under pressure from UK and partner law enforcement.