Overview
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said taxi travel will be allowed only in exceptional, evidence-based cases such as disability, pregnancy or serious illness, with each journey requiring Home Office approval.
- Service providers have been instructed to stop booking taxis for medical trips from February 2026 while the government works on public transport alternatives.
- The move follows reporting that asylum hotels’ automated systems routinely booked cabs for short and long journeys, with drivers alleging inflated mileage and long-distance dispatching by subcontractors.
- Officials cite average annual transport spending of about £15.8m and say audits and stronger reporting will clamp down on overcharging, with more than £74m already recovered from accommodation providers.
- Charities warn tight thresholds could hinder access to care and renew calls for free bus travel, as ministers link the change to wider asylum-system reforms and efforts to reduce use of hotels.