Number of illegal worker arrests in Scotland up by nearly a third
More than 350 illegal workers were arrested between October 2024 and September - up 30 per cent on previous 12 months
The number of arrests and visits on illegal workers in Scotland has risen by almost a third, new figures have shown.
The Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement section arrested more than 350 illegal workers in Scotland and carried out more than 500 visits between October 2024 and September 2025, with both figures up 30 per cent on the previous 12-month period.
In August, an enforcement visit to a restaurant in Lochgelly, Fife, resulted in two men of Pakistani and Indian nationality being arrested for alleged illegal working.
A visit to a restaurant in Fort William in the Highlands in September led to the arrest of two men of Indian nationality and, in October, five arrests were made at a takeaway in Aberdeen.
Immigration Enforcement said civil penalty referral notices were served on all three premises, meaning they could face fines if found liable.
Under Operation Sterling, the UK Government proposed £5 million for Immigration Enforcement.
It is being used to target, arrest, detain, deport and return illegal workers in takeaways, fast food drivers, beauty salons and car washes.
The number of illegal working arrests in the UK has now increased by 63 per cent as Immigration Enforcement carries out its highest level of raids in British history.
Bosses who hire illegal workers could now face up to five years in prison, fines of £60,000 per illegal worker and have their businesses close under new laws expanding right to work checks to gig economy.
Food delivery companies
The UK Government says it is working closely with industry partners including food delivery companies Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats.
The Home Office also said it has implemented a data-sharing agreement with the firms to share locations of hotels used for asylum accommodation to reveal asylum seekers working illegally as delivery riders.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, said: “Illegal working creates an incentive for people attempting to arrive in this country illegally. No more.
“Those found to be illegally working in beauty salons, car washes and as delivery drivers will be arrested, detained and removed from this country.
“I will do whatever it takes to secure Britain’s borders.”
The UK government has a legal responsibility under the 1999 Immigration & Asylum Act to house asylum seekers who cannot pay for their own accommodation while they are waiting to hear the outcome of their claim.
To be eligible for asylum in the UK, a person must have left their country and be unable to go back because of fear of persecution, according to the Home Office.
Claims cannot be made from outside the country in which the claimant wishes to seek asylum.
This is why someone seeking asylum in the UK has to already be here, in the country, before they can make a claim.
Most claimants have travelled to the UK to seek asylum and do not have the means to support themselves or have somewhere to live while their claim is being processed.
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