Nick Eardley,Political Correspondentand
Sue Mitchell,Investigations reporter
BBC
A BBC investigation found asylum seekers in hotels were taking taxi journeys costing hundreds of pounds
Asylum seekers will be banned from using taxis for medical appointments from February, the government has announced.
It comes after a BBC investigation found some people had travelled long distances by taxis or minicabs, with one asylum seeker saying they went on a 250-mile cab journey to a GP, costing the Home Office £600.
In response, the government launched an urgent review into the use and cost of taxis to transfer asylum seekers from their hotels to appointments in September.
Now the government has confirmed it has spent an average of around £15.8 million per year on transport for asylum seekers.
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.
On Friday, 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 told File on Four 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.
But Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this was now going to change.
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.”
She said the government had inherited expensive Conservative contracts.
Instead of taxis, ministers want asylum seekers to use alternatives like public transport.
There will be some exemptions for people with physical disabilities, chronic illnesses and pregnancy-related needs.
These will have to be signed off by the Home Office under the new rules.
There are other circumstances in which taxis can be used – such as moving between accommodation – but ministers are reviewing the wider use of taxis for asylum seekers and want to extend the principle that they are only used in exceptional circumstances with support evidence.
Enver Solomon, chief executive at the Refugee Council, said the current use of taxis was “symptomatic of an asylum system that allows private contractors to make vast profits at the expense of the taxpayer”.
He added that: “It is more a consequence of government incompetence and poor contract management than people in the asylum system exploiting it.”
Mr Solomon called for an end to “profiteering” contracts and for more asylum seekers to be allowed to work “so they can support themselves”.
Ministers have pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the next election. They want to increase the use of alternative accommodation, such as large military sites.
But figures earlier this week showed 36,273 people were still living in asylum hotels in the UK – an increase compared to June.
There has also been criticism of the growing cost of running asylum accommodation, which has gone up significantly since the contracts were signed.
When the home secretary was asked if the government was prepared to exercise break clauses in contracts with providers in a BBC interview earlier this year, Mahmood said she would explore all options.
But doing so would mean alternative accommodation needs to be found.
The government has also announced significant changes to overhaul the asylum system, with refugee status becoming temporary and the ending of guaranteed housing support for asylum seekers.
The government has recovered £74m since it came to power but the chair of the home affairs select committee said that was only a start.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “The issue is that Labour can’t get a grip on the illegal immigration crisis.
“As Labour hammer working people with £26 billion in tax rises, they have allowed costs for illegal arrivals to spiral because Labour don’t have the backbone to take the tough decisions needed.
“Namely, deporting all illegal arrivals and leaving the ECHR. Until that happens, the bills will keep mounting.”
