The UK government will soon prohibit asylum seekers from using taxis to reach medical appointments, introducing rules that will take effect in February. The change follows revelations that the Home Office has been paying roughly £15.8 million each year for such journeys.

Under the new system, people seeking asylum will be expected to take buses or other public transport, regardless of how urgent their medical situation may be.

Ministers have dismissed repeated appeals to provide free access to public transportation, despite years of campaigning from civil society groups. The new restrictions were introduced after a government review triggered by a BBC investigation, which uncovered instances of extremely costly taxi journeys arranged for individuals attending routine medical visits, including one man who reported a 250-mile trip costing £600 simply to see a GP.

These long and expensive trips often stem from the government’s practice of relocating asylum seekers far from the hospitals or clinics where they are undergoing ongoing treatment, including procedures like chemotherapy.

Bus pass battle

For years, advocacy organizations have pushed for a bus pass scheme so asylum seekers would not be forced into taxis when the distances involved were unwalkable. Citizens UK, working with 25 other organisations, launched a major campaign in 2023 calling for such a pass, arguing that it would also allow parents to take their children to school and support people participating in volunteering. Their efforts led to a pilot for free bus travel in Oxford in late 2024. Scotland has separately committed to providing free bus travel for asylum seekers by 2026.

At present, asylum seekers are permitted one free return bus journey each week. For any additional travel deemed necessary, Home Office contractors frequently arrange taxis, even when the individual would prefer to travel by bus. One subcontractor in south-east London told the BBC that his company charged the Home Office about £1,000 per day for up to 15 short trips between a hotel and a GP surgery just two miles away.

According to the government, new rules will mean taxi travel is "strictly limited to exceptional, evidenced cases", a category expected to include individuals with physical disabilities, chronic or serious health conditions, or pregnancy-related medical needs. Each trip will require authorisation from the Home Office.

Contract profiteering

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, warned of potential harm if the threshold for access is set too narrowly. "We know the Home Office does not have one consistent definition or approach for how vulnerability is assessed, so there’s a real risk those who need transportation won’t get it," he said. He stressed that "The current taxi bill is more a consequence of government incompetence and poor contract management than people in the asylum system exploiting it."

He added that "The use of taxis is symptomatic of an asylum system that allows private contractors to make vast profits at the expense of the taxpayer because successive governments have failed to deliver the reforms needed to create an efficient and effective system that treats people with compassion and delivers value for money."

Solomon urged the government to "end the profiteering contracts that will only expand with the planned use of military sites and allow people in the asylum system to work so they can support themselves."

Contract audits

Officials say the changes will be accompanied by new measures targeting overcharging within the contractor network, including regular audits and tighter reporting obligations. The government argues that these steps will improve transparency and accountability while reducing waste. Ministers say their wider efforts to reduce unnecessary spending in asylum housing and transport contracts have already achieved more than £74 million in savings.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood accused the previous Conservative administration of leaving behind chaotic and costly arrangements. "I am ending the unrestricted use of taxis by asylum seekers for hospital appointments, authorizing them only in the most exceptional circumstances," she said. She also pledged to continue "to root out waste as we close every single asylum hotel."

Hotel stalemate

The government claims moving asylum seekers out of hotels and into alternative forms of accommodation, including military facilities, will save £500 million by the end of this parliament. Despite these promises, newly released figures show 36,273 asylum seekers remain in hotel accommodation, a number higher than it was in June.

Ministers also say they are scaling up removals of people the government classifies as illegal migrants, citing nearly 50,000 removals or deportations since Labour took office. Raids on people working without the legal right to do so are said to be at their highest levels on record, with more than 8,000 arrests between October 2024 and September 2025.

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