Home Secretary issues urgent review into taxi fares from Norfolk asylum hotel
An investigation found taxpayers were paying for taxis to appointments
Last updated 26th Sep 2025
The home secretary has ordered an urgent review into the use of taxis by asylum seekers at a Norfolk hotel after an investigation revealed taxpayers were funding journeys of more than 100 miles at huge expense.
Shabana Mahmood announced the probe into the system used at Bowthorpe’s Brook Hotel, as well as other asylum hotels, after the BBC revealed some migrants are travelling huge distances by taxi to get to GP appointments and other services.
One trip from an unnamed hotel cost the Home Office £600 to take an asylum seeker on a 250-mile journey to visit a doctor.
The total costs of the transport system are not known as the Home Office has said it does not keep these figures.
The revelations have caused frustration among politicians nationally and locally, who have demanded the government act quickly to bring an end to the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.
TAXI TAKE
The BBC investigation involved speaking with asylum seekers staying at four unnamed hotels across the country.
It found that they are booked taxis through an automated system after showing proof of an upcoming appointment at the reception desk of their hotel.
Public transport or walking are not presented as options, meaning taxis are sometimes used for very long or very short trips.
For example, sometimes when migrants are moved to different hotels, they keep the same NHS doctors and GPs.
At the Brook Hotel this week, three taxis were observed dropping people or picking people up in the vicinity of the venue over the course of about an hour.
During a visit earlier this month, a taxi driver said, “you won’t believe where I am taking someone,” but refused to reveal where after learning he was talking to a reporter.
The LDRS contacted several taxi firms in the Norwich area but most declined to comment.
Veezu, formerly ABC taxis, confirmed it does not hold a contract with the Home Office.
U-Ride also said it has not been approached by the Home Office.
The BBC investigation found asylum seekers are living in cramped conditions, with evidence of illegal working and dangerous catering arrangements, with some residents cooking meals using electric hobs in bathrooms.
While details of living conditions at the Brook Hotel are unknown, what once appeared to be a welcoming and comfortable venue is now fortified with metal gates.
Security guards monitor the perimeter, checking proof of residency before allowing people to enter through the gates.
It follows weeks of tense protests outside the site, which have led to numerous arrests.
A spokesman for the Home Office said taxi charges are not based on meter measurements.
Instead, the rate is agreed as part of a set contract calculated on a per-person, per-mile basis.
A spokesman added: “The home secretary has asked the department to urgently look into the use of taxis to transfer asylum seekers.”
‘COSTS TOO HIGH’
Nick Taylor, chairman of the Norwich Reform branch, has been left frustrated at the BBC’s findings and has welcomed the review.
He said: “This has been going on for years, taxiing migrants from hotels to hospitals, doctors, adult education… When people think about the costs of illegal immigration, they think about the hotels but not the cost of the whole asylum process.
“We are talking billions of pounds.”
Rupert Lowe, the independent MP for Great Yarmouth, said: “The Home Office is such a steaming disgrace.
“We are governed by arrogant morons. Every single high-ranking bureaucrat in the Home Office should be sacked.
“Abolish the entire department and start again.”
The cost of the UK’s asylum system rose to £5.4bn in 2023, with the use of hotels for housing reaching about £5.7m a day.
But Clive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich South, believes the focus on asylum seeker costs is misplaced.
He said: “Everyone deserves fairness and the chance to build a decent life.
“Families should be able to heat their homes, pay the rent, and see a doctor when they need to. People seeking asylum want the same — to work, contribute, and support themselves.
“But powerful interests are making life harder.
“Energy giants post record profits while bills soar. Banks hike mortgage rates and pile on charges while wages stagnate. Hedge funds profit from food and housing inflation.
“Politicians like Nigel Farage, backed by City donors, and billionaires like Elon Musk, who has publicly supported Tommy Robinson, are tied into these same networks.
“Instead of challenging profiteering, the authoritarian right tells us to blame asylum seekers and others who need support. The real choice is whether we look up at those driving the crisis, or keep being told to punch down.”