Urgent review ordered into asylum seeker taxi costs after BBC investigation

The Home Secretary has ordered an urgent investigation into the use and cost of taxis to move asylum seekers from hotels to appointments. Shabana Mahmood's move came after a BBC report revealed that some migrants must travel long distances on journeys costing hundreds of pounds.

According to one asylum seeker, he had to travel a 250-mile round trip to see a GP, with the driver informing him that the cost to the Home Office was £600. A bus pass is issued for one return journey per week, but taxis are only available for other essential travel, such as a doctor's visit.

Through a Freedom of Information Act request, the BBC asked the government how much it spends on taxi travel for asylum seekers, but the Home Office said it does not keep these figures. According to the File on 4 investigation, asylum seekers must show proof of a forthcoming appointment at their hotel's reception desk, where a taxi is booked on an automated platform. Public transport or walking is not an option.

This can result in some unusually long and short journeys. For example, when migrants change hotels, they often use the same doctors, particularly for GP referrals. Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he accepted an investigation into how the system works should be carried out. He said, "I'm not surprised that this was a feature that caught people's attention."

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook told the Today show on Tuesday that it was "questionable" that asylum seekers were required to take such long taxi rides and that the government would "look into those cases." According to him, asylum seekers were not "ordinary people just jumping on a bus."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said, "Every £600 taxi ride for migrants is money that should be paying for British patients to see their GP or ambulances to arrive on time." He added that because of this, "people complain that the system is rigged against them." The writer claims that "Labour is writing a blank cheque for unlawful immigrant removal," while "services for hardworking families are severely restricted."

The BBC's investigation into four hotels that were hosting asylum seekers revealed cramped living conditions, illegal employment, and fire alarms wrapped in plastic bags as residents secretly cooked meals over electric hobs in bathrooms. The BBC discovered that the issue of asylum seekers in hotels has become a hot political topic, sparking protests and a court challenge from an Essex council trying to close a hotel in its district. The government intends to outlaw the use of hotels for housing asylum seekers.

According to the BBC, in August, asylum seekers told the BBC that protests outside hotels left them feeling lonely and anxious. They reiterated that they did not want to live in hotels and struggled in "damp and filthy" conditions.