Councillor Jim McLeod has joined with me in calling upon the UK Government to clarify changes to the Motability car scheme and to provide detail on the government’s plans to review the scheme’s eligibility criteria.
The Motability car scheme provides disabled people with specially adapted vehicles but since the introduction of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) thousands of people have lost access to these specialised vehicles.
I previously asked the UK Government how many people in Inverclyde had lost their Motability vehicles as a result of recent welfare changes. Penny Mordaunt MP, the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work said that she did not have an answer because seeking the information “would incur a disproportionate cost”.
In November last year, Penny Mordaunt MP announced that her department had “been discussing with relevant Departments ways to enable PIP claimants to keep their vehicle pending appeal, and we are exploring options to allow those who are not in receipt of the higher Motability component to have access to the Motability scheme.”
Since this announcement no further information has been provided.
UK Government welfare cuts are having a devastating impact on the most vulnerable people in our society. Sadly, I have seen this first hand as a number of constituents have contacted me after losing their Motability vehicle.
Motability vehicles are essential to the people who use them. By stripping people of these vehicles, the UK Government is also removing their independence.
After the announcement last November there was some hope that the unfair rules would be reviewed. However, three months later there has been no action and my constituents are still being punished by this policy.
It’s time for the DWP to take action and to end the unfair targeting of those that rely on Motability vehicles.
Cllr Jim McLeod said,
“The migration and reassessment of disabled people travelling from DLA to PIP has caused the loss of benefit for thousands of disabled people, both in care and mobility components of the benefit.
“The reduction or loss of PIP has created real hardship for many disabled people and often has a knock on effect on the likes of Care Allowance which is paid to carers many who have had to give up work to look after disabled family.
“The reduction or loss of the mobility component of PIP has caused thousands of disabled people to have their Motability cars taken from them. This causes loss of independence and for many difficulty getting to work, further/higher education or simply to visit friends or go shopping.
“At a time when the Tory UK government say they are enabling disabled people to get in to work they are in fact pulling the rug from under them by removing their Motability vehicles.”
Ronnie Cowan MP 