Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: ASYLUM seekers have been banned from using taxis for most medical journeys, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced The Government said the new rules will restrict taxi use for medical travel to exceptional, evidence-based cases such as physical disability, pregnancy or serious illness. Any such journey would require Home Office approval.
All service providers will be required to stop using taxis for medical journeys from February. Shabana Mahmood 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.
The decision follows a recent investigation that found “widespread” use of taxis by asylum seekers.
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, reported BBC. The Government has confirmed it has spent an average of around £15.8 million per year on transport for asylum seekers.
Earlier this month, Mahmood set out a raft of measures to overhaul the asylum system, aimed at deterring illegal migration to the UK and making it easier to deport people. The proposed changes include making refugee status temporary, subject to reviews every 30 months, and sending refugees home if their country is deemed safe.
