FINES issued to firms that illegally employ asylum seekers have plunged by a third — despite migrants in the black market soaring to all-time highs.
There were 2,171 penalties worth a total of £110.8million in the year to the end of March.
Fines issued to firms that illegally employ asylum seekers have plunged by a third[/caption]
That is down 30 per cent from the record high of 3,089 issued in 2016, Home Office figures show.
In the last three months of 2024, 35 car wash companies were fined a combined total of £2.95million.
But officials now fear companies fined for failing to employ legal staff are simply dissolving instead.
Directors are then starting new firms with different names, that inherit none of the legal liability to pay the cash back.
Last year, Booom Car Wash Limited, near Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, in North London, was ordered to pay £180,000 for illegally employing four staff.
Companies House shows it dissolved on December 6, before it even paid a penny.
Golden Hand Car Wash Limited, based in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, is currently in the process of closing only months after a £120,000 fine.
There were also 12 barber shops fined a total of £540,000.
We revealed last week how small boat arrivals can be working on Britain’s massive black market within hours of arriving.
Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat — which have all been allowing asylum seekers to work by renting a legal delivery rider’s account — now face being made subject to fines after a rule change earlier this year.
The Home Office, under the Tories, raised the fine for a first-time illegal worker offence from £15,000 to £45,000 last February.
It came after fears firms were writing off the smaller penalty as a tax on employing illegal migrants who were cheaper than British staff.
Earlier this year, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said criminal gangs were behind efforts to orchestrate black market jobs once small boat crossers arrive in the UK and are placed in a taxpayer-funded hotel.
A No 10 spokesman said it was “right that the spotlight is being shone on this racket” — and will haul in Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats bosses this week.
Security Minster, Dan Jarvis, said: “When we entered government last year, illegal working was running rife throughout the country, with taxpayers and honest businesses being ripped off and undermined.
“Since then, we have taken swift action to clampdown on this criminality, with arrests up by 51% and visits up by 48%.
“But we know more still needs to be done. That’s why Immigration Enforcement will continue to work with partners to hold unscrupulous employers to account.”
