UK Government Restricts Taxi Use for Asylum Seekers,Cites Cost Concerns
The UK government is restricting asylum seekers’ access to taxis for hospital appointments,authorizing them only in “the most exceptional circumstances,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced today. The move is part of a wider effort to reduce government spending on asylum seeker accommodation and enforcement, with officials citing “wasted billions” inherited from previous Conservative contracts.
The policy change aims to curb costs associated with transporting asylum seekers to medical care. Figures released this week reveal that 36,273 asylum seekers remain housed in hotels - a higher number than in June – despite government pledges to relocate them to alternative accommodations like military sites by the end of the current parliament. The government estimates this relocation will save £500 million.
Mahmood stated the government is “rooting out waste as we close every single asylum hotel.” Alongside the taxi restriction, the government highlighted increased efforts to remove individuals without the right to remain in the UK, claiming to have removed or deported almost 50,000 people as Labor took power.
Raids targeting illegal working have also increased, resulting in over 8,000 arrests of individuals working in the UK without authorization between October 2024 and September 2025 – the highest number on record.
