THE Government offered transport contracts worth £5million to ferry migrants around the country — despite fury over taxi trips for asylum seekers.
Documents uncovered by The Sun show the Home Office wanted companies to sign deals covering London, the South East, South West and Wales for long-distance journeys.
AlamyThe Government offered transport contracts worth £5million to ferry migrants around the country[/caption]
Paul EdwardsMore than 31,000 people have arrived in small boats already this year[/caption]
The three-year contract also covered coach travel for small boat migrants from the processing centre in Manston, Kent, where Channel arrivals are taken.
The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has promised a probe over revelations taxpayers were stumping up millions a year for taxis to take asylum seekers hundreds of miles to see doctors.
And it follows our exposés of asylum seekers staying in taxpayer-funded hotels shoplifting thousands of pounds of designer gear from top stores and migrants working as fast-food delivery riders within hours of arriving in the UK while being housed and fed at taxpayers’ expense.
More than 31,000 people have arrived in small boats already this year, with at least 1,899 crossing in the past five days alone.
This is a sick waste of taxpayers’ money. They should walk or take public transport.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp
Bidding on the transport contract, through Home Office hotel contractor Clearsprings Ready Homes, was closed on September 18.
It stated officials were “seeking to appoint experienced and capable transport providers, both small and large companies, to deliver a 24/7/365 transportation service that is safe, timely, and responsive to the needs of asylum seeker service users”.
The contract went on: “The transport service will include a mixture of short and long-distance journeys, with some requiring out-of-area travel for planned moves.”
Providers who applied had to be able to provide “local, same-day transfers”, “regional and cross-regional journeys”, and “pre-planned long-distance disbursements”.
Taxis would have to be able to wait for up to 30 minutes for pick-ups and “any minutes over will be charged using the providers’ pricing model.”
The contact added: “Note, we welcome alternative pricing models as part of your application.”
It was divided into five lots across London, the South West, Wales, the South East and Manston in Kent.
Last week The Sun revealed taxi firm PTS-247 has a £4million-a-year deal to transport migrants around the South of England and Wales.
In the three years since signing, profits at the company, in Crawley, West Sussex, soared tenfold from £52,153 to £586,762.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is a sick waste of taxpayers’ money.
‘Weak Government’
“They should walk or take public transport.
“This weak Government thinks cosseting illegal immigrants is more important than our hard-earned cash.
“Well when I’m Home Secretary I’ll ban this nonsense on day one.”
The Home Office said: “The Home Secretary has asked the department to urgently look into the use of taxis to transfer asylum seekers.”
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