Tories call for overhaul of ‘out of control’ Motability

ODN

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately has called for tighter controls on the Motability scheme, claiming costs have “gone completely out of control”. She said the programme, intended to support people with severe disabilities, cost £3bn last year and suggests it is now being accessed far more widely, including for conditions such as tennis elbow, acne and ADHD.   Report by Etemadil. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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00:00We want to get a grip, or we want the government to get a grip, on the spending on motability.

00:04Those are the cars that are given to people with disabilities.

00:07A scheme that was originally set out for people with severe disabilities

00:10to be able to get around and get around with dignity.

00:14But the scheme has gone completely out of control.

00:16It cost £3 billion last year.

00:19And to bring that to life, around a third of new cars that were sold in Wales last year

00:26were motability cars.

00:27There's around a quarter of new cars in London, around a quarter of cars in the north-east of England.

00:33So this is at a huge scale.

00:35And people feel it's really unfair.

00:37You've got people who can't afford to get a car themselves,

00:40looking down the road at their neighbours, are going,

00:42hold on, I'm paying for that car.

00:44And it's no longer just being available for people with serious disabilities.

00:48We've got a tennis elbow, acne, or for instance neurodiversity like ADHD

00:52as reasons that you can get a car.

00:54This scheme is simply not working.

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