A ban on asylum seekers using taxis for most medical journeys has been announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Under the new rules, taxi use for medical travel will be restricted to “exceptional” cases such as physical disability, pregnancy or serious illness – and these will require government approval.
Ms Mahmood made the announcement after a BBC investigation found “widespread” use of taxis by asylum seekers, including for long journeys – with one case involving a 250-mile trip to see a GP.
Transport for asylum seekers has cost the government an average of almost £16m a year, according to reports.
All service providers will be required to stop using taxis for medical journeys from February next year and the government is now working to help introduce alternatives such as public transport.
“This government inherited Conservative contracts that are wasting billions of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash,” the home secretary said.
“I am ending the unrestricted use of taxis by asylum seekers for hospital appointments, authorising them only in the most exceptional circumstances.
“I will continue to root out waste as we close every single asylum hotel.”
Taxi drivers said the system was open to “abuse”, accusing sub-contractors of inflating mileage, for instance by dispatching drivers over long distances to perform much shorter journeys.
One told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he had been dispatched from Gatwick to take an asylum seeker more than 50 miles away in Reading to an appointment only 1.5 miles from his hotel. A second driver was reportedly sent from Heathrow, about 30 miles away, to bring the same man back from the appointment.
The policy change comes after a Home Office review of transport arrangements for asylum seekers, it is understood.
Asylum system overhaul
It comes after a raft of measures to overhaul the asylum system was set out by Ms Mahmood earlier in November.
In an interview with Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, she admitted the UK’s illegal immigrant numbers were “too high” – but said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage could “sod off” after he claimed she sounded like a Reform supporter.
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The “restoring order and control” plan includes:
• The removal of more families with children – either voluntarily through cash incentives up to £3,000, or by force;
• Quadrupling the time successful asylum seekers must wait to claim permanent residency, from five to 20 years;
• Removing the legal obligation to provide financial support for those who have the right to work but choose not to;
• Setting up a new appeals body to significantly speed up the time it takes to decide whether to refuse an application;
• Reforming how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is interpreted in immigration cases;
• Banning visas for countries refusing to accept deportees;
• The establishment of new safe and legal refugee routes.
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The home secretary told MPs it is an “uncomfortable truth” that Britain’s generous asylum offer, compared with other European countries, is attracting people to the UK – and for British taxpayers the system “feels out of control and unfair”.
However, the wide-ranging reforms have drawn criticism from Labour backbenchers.
Nadia Whittome MP called Ms Mahmood’s plans “dystopian” and “shameful”, while Richard Burgon MP said she should change course rather than be forced into a U-turn later.
So far this year, some 39,292 people have made the journey across the Channel, already more than last year’s numbers, but still below the total for the record year of 2022.
