Norwich<\/a>\u00a0after being caught in a Home Office crackdown.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n\n The department believes delivery rider accounts for the companies are being shared with migrants, allowing them to work illegally.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Police officers stop a delivery driver on an e-bike in Norwich (Image: Norfolk Police)\n<\/p>\n
TEEN\u2019S TRAGIC DEATH\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n An inquest into the death of Mr Machado heard the teen had made off at \u201cexcessive speed\u201d when police officers attempted to stop him as he waited at a red light in 2023.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n An inquest at Bournemouth Coroner\u2019s Court ruled he died from traumatic head and neck injuries.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n So concerned that a tragedy like this could happened again, area coroner Brendan Allen issued a prevention of future deaths report highlighting\u00a0\u201csignificant national concern\u201d regarding the way delivery licences were regulated by the likes of Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Allen said the lack of oversight from food delivery companies meant that under-18s could exploit the rules to earn some money, putting them at risk when on the road.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n He issued the report to the Secretary of State for the Home Office, and in turn has made councils across the country look at their own safety measures and potential risks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Bournemouth Coroner’s Court (Image: Google Street View)\n<\/p>\n
RENTED PITFALLS\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n The inquest heard Mr Machado had \u201crented\u201d an Uber Eats delivery licence at the time of the crash, despite being too young to obtain one himself.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n On April 16, 2023, Mr Machado was riding a 599cc Yamaha sports bike with an Uber Eats delivery box attached to the rear when he crashed.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n And while police denied they were\u00a0actually in\u00a0pursuit of him during the\u00a0inquest, coroner Mr Allen\u00a0was more concerned about the lack of oversight of the licensing of delivery drivers.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The inquest heard he was not licensed to use such a motorcycle as it requires a category A driving licence, for which drivers need to be at least 21.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Allen said: \u201cThere is significant national concern about the \u2018rental\u2019 of food delivery licences to under-18s.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIn general terms, food delivery platforms place age restrictions on those who can obtain a licence to deliver food.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHowever, there appears to be no oversight of the rental of these licences to those under the age limit.”\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Views from Mousehold Heath in Norwich (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
PROBLEM EXTENDS TO NORFOLK\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Following the teen\u2019s death, councils in Norfolk have raised concerns about such licences but explained that currently there were limits to what they could do.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
North Norfolk District Council (Image: Archant)\n<\/p>\n
\n North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) described how it had \u201climited powers\u201d on such food delivery services.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n An NNDC spokesperson said: \u201cUnlike Uber Rides, which need to be provided by a licensed Private Hire Operator, Uber Eats\u2019 riders are not required to hold a private hire driver licence or be licensed under a Private Hire Operator. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe business creating the food for delivery must be licensed by the local authority, but the driver only needs a valid driving licence, insurance and the right to work.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cNNDC does not oversee or issue food delivery licenses since the activity isn\u2019t currently licensable, however we always aim to align our policies with the recommended guidance.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The West Norfolk\u00a0and Norwich City Council\u00a0also confirmed\u00a0they\u00a0also do not\u00a0licence\u00a0this type of activity.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Police officers stopping a delivery driver in Norwich (Image: Norfolk Police)\n<\/p>\n
\n The councils\u2019 concerns follow the recent deportation of delivery drivers after a Home Office crackdown in the county.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Delivery drivers working illegally in Norwich were deported after being caught. The Indian workers were arrested by officers as part of an operation targeting the so-called gig-economy.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Across the county, 171 people were arrested, including 60 who were detained for removal from the UK.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The Home Office has not revealed details of when the arrests were made or the businesses the delivery riders were working for.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Ministers have been working with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats to address concerns of abuse in the sector and ramping up identity checks to tackle account-sharing.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The department believes delivery rider accounts for the companies are being shared with migrants, allowing them to work illegally.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n A Home Office spokesman said: “This government has taken firm action to tackle illegal working and is working closely with industry partners to ensure that only registered account holders can access the platforms.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n An\u00a0Uber\u00a0Eats spokeswoman said the company was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d by Mr Machado\u2019s death.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n She added: \u201cIn recent years we have refined and added to our suite of industry leading account-sharing detection signals to help ensure only account holders or registered substitutes are using the account.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf we become aware of someone delivering on the platform who may be under 18 or attempting to share their account with a minor we take immediate action, including reporting to law enforcement or relevant authorities.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n The prevention of future deaths report was also sent to Deliveroo\u00a0and Just Eat.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leonardo \u201cLeo\u201d Machado, 17, died in a motorbike accident while working illegally as a food delivery driver in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-347878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}