Ban on asylum seekers using taxis for medical appointments comes into force

3 hours ago

Nick EardleyPolitical correspondent

News image — A BBC investigation found asylum seekers in hotels were taking taxi journeys costing hundreds of pounds

BBC A silver taxi parked outside a hotel. Its number plate and phone-number on its door are blurred. The hotel is a non-descript grey-bricked building. A group of people with blurred faces sit at a picnic bench nearby. — A BBC investigation found asylum seekers in hotels were taking taxi journeys costing hundreds of pounds

A ban on asylum seekers using taxis to attend medical appointments has come into force.

The government changed the policy after a BBC investigation which showed people travelling long distances at high cost.

In one case, an asylum seeker said he went on a 250-mile cab journey to a GP, costing the Home Office £600.

The ban will not stop the use of taxis completely and there will be some exemptions for people with physical disabilities, chronic illnesses and pregnancy-related needs.

These cases will have to be signed off by the Home Office under the new rules.

Taxis can also still be used for other reasons - such as travelling between accommodation. The Home Office is continuing to review that situation.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "I have ended the wasteful use of taxis for medical appointments to protect the taxpayer's purse.

"I will stop at nothing to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to Britian to restore order and control to our borders."

It was revealed in November that an average of £15.8m had been spent a year on taxis for asylum seekers.

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Earlier this year, BBC Radio 4's File on Four found asylum seekers were being issued with a bus pass for one return journey per week. For other necessary travel, like doctor's appointments, taxis were used.

One driver told the BBC his firm would do up to 15 drop-offs daily from a hotel in south-east London to a doctors surgery around two miles away. These journeys alone would cost the Home Office £1,000 a day, he said.

Another taxi driver, who gave the name Steve, claimed firms would purposely increase the mileage on trips by dispatching drivers to another distant town to carry out short journeys.

He said that on one occasion he was sent from Gatwick Airport to Reading - a round trip of about 110 miles (175km) and costing more than £100 - to take an asylum seeker from their hotel to a dentist appointment which was 1.5 miles away.

Steve said that while working for a subcontractor he was sent from Gatwick to Southampton "more than once", and that he drove an average of 275 miles a day - half of which was without a passenger in his car.

He claimed that some journeys were completely wasted.

"I'd be sitting there and [would be told] 'oh look don't worry, [the asylum seekers] don't wanna go' and they basically refused to move. It just logistically wasn't thought out very well and I think it was left open to abuse," he said.