A scheme which provides cars to disabled people is being used to prop up sales of electric vehicles (EVs) and is ripping off the taxpayer, according to Reform MP and deputy leader Richard Tice. It was reported in The Telegraph that Motability has installed more than 66,000 charging points free of charge at the homes of disabled people, who exchange their benefits to lease its vehicles.
Now Mr Tice said had expressed his fury at the scheme which he said started off as “well-intentioned” but has now morphed into something else. He said “The whole Motability scheme was well-intentioned and had the right ambitions when it started out but it has now basically been hijacked and is being used and abused by a whole load of freeloaders.”
Motability, has been helping disabled people access cars for nearly 50 years but in recent years the number of people eligible for the service has spiked from 650,000 people two years ago to 815,000.
The Telegraph reported that this rise was due to an increase in the number higher rate personal independent payments (PIP) that include a “mobility” payment.
Questions have risen about whether taxpayers should still be subsidising the purchase of new vehicles offered by Motability, which include BMWs worth over £50,000.
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions minister, has vowed to cut the number of PIP claimants, while MPs have demanded Motability’s service needed a deep dive. Peter Bedford, the MP for Mid Leicestershire said more needed to be done to make sure only those in need recieved help.
William Yarwood, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance also criticised the free installation of home charge points, which cost between £800 to £1,500, at a total cost of £100m.
The home charging points came from £265.5m set aside to help meet net zero targets and a Motability spokesman denied that the EV chargers had been funded by disability allowances and had been paid out of “higher than expected” profits made selling used cars.
The Telegraph reported that executive bonuses are partly tied to EV targets and the past rollout of chargers helped Andrew Miller, the chief executive of Motability, earn a £198,000 bonus last year
Motability said it stopped offering free chargers in October and customers who wished to have a home charger would now have to pay for it through their benefits allowance or via an advanced payment.
About 40% of Motability’s £6.9bn of revenue comes from customer welfare payments, and the rest from selling on cars which have gone beyond their three-year lease to dealerships.
