Government bans asylum seekers from taking taxis to medical appointments

Asylum seekers have been banned from taking a taxi to medical appointments, home secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced.

The government said the new rules will restrict taxi use for medical travel to exceptional, evidence-based cases such as physical disability, pregnancy or serious illness.

Any such journey would require Home Office approval. It is understood the policy change comes after a Home Office review of transport arrangements for asylum seekers.

All service providers will be required to stop using taxis for medical journeys from February.

Mahmood said the government is working with providers to introduce alternatives, such as public transport, in a bid to save taxpayer money.

“This government inherited Conservative contracts that are wasting billions of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash,” she 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.”

It comes as new figures show the number of asylum seekers being housed in UK hotels has risen by 13% in three months.

Meanwhile, net migration to the UK has fallen to its lowest level since 2021, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Earlier this month, Mahmood set out a raft of measures to overhaul the asylum system, aimed at deterring illegal migration to the UK and making it easier to deport people.

The proposed changes include making refugee status temporary, subject to reviews every 30 months, and sending refugees home if their country is deemed safe.

The wide-ranging reforms drew criticism from Labour backbenchers.

Mahmood told MPs it was the “uncomfortable truth” that the UK’s generous asylum offer, compared with other European countries, is drawing people to UK shores, and for British taxpayers the system “feels out of control and unfair”.

The UK currently offers payments of up to £3,000 for some people with no right to remain in the country who agree to return home.