Reform UK has announced plans to end abuse of the disability benefits system that sees those on welfare get cut-price luxury cars like BMWs and Mercedes. The Motability scheme, which was set up in 1987 to provide car financing to those on disability benefits, has rapidly become an example of an out-of-control benefits system.
The scheme now accounts for more than one in five new cars sold in Britain, with those qualifying for the enhanced rate of PIP able to get major cost-saving discounts on luxury motors. Cases have included people qualifying for Motability thanks to ailments including constipation, tennis elbow, and ADHD, with nearly 90% of all cars handed out by the scheme not being adapted for any disability. While Rachel Reeves had been reportedly looking at saving up to £1 billion of taxpayers’ cash by scrapping tax breaks on Motability cars, it was reported yesterday that she has now abandoned this plan.
However Reform politicians Lee Anderson and Zia Yusuf today told the Daily Express they will crack down on the scheme taking British taxpayers for a ride. Mr Anderson, the party’s welfare spokesman, said Motability has got “completely out of hand”.
“One in five new cars on the road now are a Motability car. I know people through doing this job and working at the Citizens Advice Bureau before that will claim the higher rate of PIP for a family member, and that family member will never get to use that car apart from maybe once or twice a year.
“They go to the hospital in the car and the rest of the time their family are driving about in a brand new BMW on their drive. It’s not fair!”
Mr Anderson also called out the Chief Executive of Motability, whose take-home salary is a whopping £421,000 a year.
The Ashfield MP asked: “Where’s that money coming from? It’s supposed to be a charity. It’s an absolute scandal the Motability scheme. I remember back in the day if you were on disability and you wanted a car from the state it was a blue three wheeler.
“What’s wrong with that? Let’s go back to that.”
This morning Reform outlined plans to end the abuse of the welfare system by ruling out a number of eligibility criteria for PIP, especially for young people signing onto benefits for non-serious mental health conditions such as anxiety.
Speaking in Westminster this morning, Mr Anderson set out there are now 1.4 million people claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for some sort of mental health disorder, a third of which are for various forms of anxiety disorders.
He explained: “The symptoms of these disorders can include persistent worrying, sadness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and changes in sleep or appetite.
“Now who in this room hasn’t suffered from any of the above symptoms. ‘Persistent sadness’? Tell me about it.
“I’ve had persistent sadness since July last year with this awful Labour government, and over the next four years there’ll be many more people having persistent sadness and wanting to put a claim in for PIP!”
Reform’s Zia Yusuf warned that there has now been an “enormous growth in PIP payments”, which now account for 1% of the UK’s entire GDP.
Much of this has been driven by post-Covid claims for mental health conditions, which Reform said is “betraying young people” who are “being labelled and tossed onto a scrap heap for the rest of their lives.”
Monthly new PIP claims for under 25s have already tripled, as the number of young people on out-of-work sickness benefits climbs by 50% in just five years.
However this is set to surge further over coming years, rising from £25 billion this year to £34 billion by 2029.
Reform said their changes to the system would prevent this rise in costs, saving £9 billion a year by the end of the decade, and £30 billion over the following five years.
Motability was approached for comment.