Asylum seekers to be banned from using taxis for medical appointments

Saturday 29 November 2025 – 10:57, UK

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced a ban on the routine use of taxis by asylum seekers for medical appointments, saying she is “ending the unrestricted use” of the service.

Under the new policy, taxis will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances—such as cases involving physical disability, pregnancy, or serious illness—and each case will require prior government approval. The changes follow a BBC investigation which uncovered “widespread” taxi use, including long-distance trips such as a 250-mile journey for a GP appointment.

Government figures show that transport for asylum seekers has cost an average of £16m a year.

All providers involved in asylum accommodation and support will be required to stop using taxis for medical travel from February next year, with the Home Office developing alternative transport options, including public transport arrangements.

“This government inherited Conservative contracts that are wasting billions of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash,” Ms Mahmood said. “I am ending the unrestricted use of taxis for hospital appointments and will authorise them only in the most exceptional cases. I will continue to root out waste as we close every single asylum hotel.”

Some taxi drivers told the BBC the system had been vulnerable to “abuse”, alleging that subcontractors inflated costs by assigning drivers from distant locations. One driver said he had been sent from Gatwick to transport an asylum seeker in Reading to an appointment just 1.5 miles from the individual’s hotel. Another was dispatched from Heathrow—30 miles away—to collect the same person.

The policy shift follows a Home Office review of transport arrangements for asylum seekers.

Wider overhaul of the asylum system

The taxi ban comes as part of a broader package of immigration and asylum reforms announced earlier in November. Speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, Ms Mahmood said illegal immigration numbers were “too high”, adding that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage could “sod off” after implying her stance echoed his party’s views.

Her “restoring order and control” plan includes:

• Increasing the removal of families with children—either voluntarily (with payments up to £3,000) or by enforcement

• Extending the wait for permanent residency for successful asylum seekers from five to 20 years

• Ending financial support for those who are permitted to work but choose not to

• Establishing a new appeals body to speed up decision-making

• Reforming how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is applied in immigration cases

• Banning visa access for countries that refuse to accept deported nationals

• Creating new safe and legal refugee routes

Ms Mahmood told MPs that the UK’s comparatively generous asylum system is attracting more arrivals and that taxpayers feel the system is “out of control and unfair”.

However, several Labour MPs have criticised the proposals. Nadia Whittome described the measures as “dystopian” and “shameful”, while Richard Burgon said the home secretary should change course now rather than face a future U-turn.

So far in 2025, 39,292 people have crossed the Channel, surpassing last year’s total but still below the record numbers reported in 2022.