Consultation outcome

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) response

Updated 22 February 2021

Question 1

Question 1a

For those who are eligible, is not leasing a vehicle through Motability a voluntary choice?

Response to question 1a

I’d like to respond separately about the ‘normal’ scheme and the Special Vehicle Fund which provides heavily adapted vehicles for people with high support needs to drive independently either by transferring from their wheelchairs or driving from them as I feel to address both of these types of vehicles cannot be done together.

Normal vehicles and WAVs

While the Motability scheme provides people who need these types of vehicle with insurance, roadtax, repairs, for those who may need a basic WAV or ‘normal’ car with minor adaptations the Motability Scheme may not be the most cost effective solution. Cars are replaced after 3 years and WAVs after 5 years and may require you to spend the whole of your Mobility Allowance whereas to but a car or WAV which could be kept for 10 or more years is often cheaper to get on hire purchase or via a bank loan – regardless of the other things added into a Motability package.

Special Vehicle Fund

These vehicles are expected now to be kept for 10 years but the initial cost of most of them is prohibitive for anyone to buy independently and they are so specifically adapted that buying them elsewhere is not really an option. Many of those with a vehicle from the Special Vehicle Fund need to carry additional and heavy equipment with them if they are travelling such as hoists, shower chairs, and Oxygen cylinders. They are of immense value in promoting the independence of disabled people with high needs.

Wheelchairs and Scooters

Given the numerous alternatives now available to get these items on Hire Purchase, when they belong to you outright after paying for them, it is difficult to see what advantage there is in using the scheme to get such items. However some disabled people would like to be able to obtain a WAV and a wheelchair from the scheme but are unable to due to the fact that their PIP motability payments are insufficient to cover the costs of both at the same time.

Question 1b

Is the decision not to use the scheme related to a preference for using public transport or is it due to other factors?

Response to question 1b

I think the reasons for this are varied. Some people prefer to use public transport and taxis, especially those living in London. Others find their wheelchairs do not fit easily or comfortably into taxis but will use public transport.

The cost of the advance payment on vehicles is often cited by disabled people as problematic although usually there seem to be some smaller vehicles available without one. These vehicles may not be suitable for people’s needs however.

Also if all of your DLA/PIP allowance is taken to fund a vehicle then you also need to have enough money from elsewhere to pay for petrol, diesel, adblue, etc in order to be able to use the vehicle. Now that Local Authorities are taking away part or all of disabled people’s DLA Care component or the PIP Daily Living component to pay for social care people do not necessarily have any spare money for fuel and other items.

The slashing of Employment and Support Allowance for those in the work related activity group by £30 a week down to a mere £73 a week total income is also likely to have a negative impact on people’s ability to pay for fuel etc to allow them to afford to drive any motability vehicle.

Special Vehicle Fund

Other factors which prevent disabled people accessing the fund.

Grants for specialized vehicles

Read on for details of what we may consider when reviewing your application for a charitable grant:

• You are solely responsible for the care of one or more dependents, such as: a disabled partner or child, care of an elderly relative or young children. You must demonstrate that the vehicle is essential to enable the continuation of the care given.
• You are in full-time education or training and a vehicle would allow you to access it independently. Full-time education is defined as: education undertaken in pursuit of a course, where a substantial period of each week is spent receiving tuition, engaging in practical work, receiving supervised study or taking examinations. Training can include being in an unpaid Apprenticeship.
• You are in paid employment, where the use of a vehicle is essential for commuting to and from your place of work, or for frequent business use.
• You carry out voluntary work, where the use of a vehicle is essential to enable you to undertake this work and you spend a substantial amount of time each week volunteering. Voluntary work can include helping out unpaid at a charity, voluntary organisation or community group, a public-sector organisation like your local council or a social enterprise supporting your local community.
• We also look at some cases on an exceptional basis, for example, if you live a long way from local amenities or where there are very limited local transport options, such as local authority transport, NHS transport, volunteer transport or wheelchair accessible taxis.

Question 1c

Are disability benefits used for other forms of transport or travel support; and if so what are the benefits of this?

Response to question 1c

Obviously there are environmental advantages to using public transport for those who are able to and who do not also need to transport equipment and in cities it avoids problems with parking. Any vehicle such as a WAV and vehicles from the Special Vehicle Fund where entry is at the rear can have problems parking as in most places there are insufficient bay parking spaces. (allowing someone to get in and out at the back of the vehicle).

If someone travels infrequently then using public transport or taxis may be cheaper than having to use all or most of your DLA or PIP mobility component on other things.

Question 2

Question 2a

For disabled people who are on enhanced mobility benefits, what are the main barriers to leasing a vehicle through the Motability scheme? Barriers could include financial, practical, information based or personal factors for example.

Response to question 2a

I think these have been mostly addressed in question 1. The Motability helpline is very good but the website can be difficult to navigate in relation to getting information and in particular finding information relating to the Special Vehicle Fund is really quite obtuse.

Question 2b

What are the key issues for those individuals who feel they cannot opt in to the Motability scheme?

Response to question 2b

Again this is varied and some disabled people are quite happy and mobile not opting into the scheme –either through obtaining their own vehicles or using public transport and taxis.

Many disabled people and especially those whose vehicles have been removed because they did not qualify for PIP, or rather lost their entitlement to PIP and had to hand their vehicles back whilst waiting over 12 months for their appeals (which 75% of claimants then go onto to win) feel trapped in their homes as they are unable to get out and about in any way. Even hospital visits due to the cuts to hospital transport becomes difficult for many.

On meagre social security benefits or in low paid employment these disabled people neither have access to a vehicle nor can they afford taxis and many are unable to walk far enough to use public transport or have a mental health condition that prevents them using public transport.

From the point of view of public expenditure it also seems ridiculous that someone may lose their entitlement to PIP and have their Motability vehicle removed but then they are paid maybe twice as much from Access to Work funding for taxis. Allowing people to keep their Motability vehicles until their appeals have actually been heard would be much more sensible.

Special Vehicle Fund

For those who are excluded from this because they do not meet the eligibility criteria their lives are likely to be very restricted. In many cases they cannot seek work or undertake education or voluntary work because they do not have any means to access it. Often people in this group have wheelchairs that are too large to fit into taxis or they may live in an area where adapted taxis are few. Public transport may not be available and they may not be able to take essential equipment with them anyhow. This means that they may not be able to go for interviews and if offered a job due to the time it takes to get funding through access to work they may not be able to start a job they are offered. To be barred from getting a vehicle from the Special vehicle Fund therefore traps them permanently as they are excluded and have no opportunity to change their status to qualify for a vehicle from the fund.

Question 3

How does participation/non-participation in the Motability scheme impact on the life of a disabled person?

Response to question 3

This varies depending on their personal situation and has been covered in previous responses.

Non-participation and exclusion from the Special Vehicle Fund deprives many disabled people with high support needs from being independent and being more involved in society permanently. While many of those people should in theory be able to employ a Personal Assistant who could drive a WAV the sweeping cuts to social care and the lack of suitable employees who are able to drive often make this impossible. Further since a vehicle from the Special Vehicle Fund is leased for 10 years twice as long as a WAV and the disabled person pays over the whole of their Mobility Allowance for that period of time the costs of providing such heavily adapted vehicles must be comparable.

It is possible that the number of adaptation firms able to carry out Special Vehicle Fund conversions would need to increase however if more disabled people could access such vehicles. Some smaller firms who were involved in vehicle conversion work have in the past been forced to give this up due to the low rates of payment from Motability which made it not viable to continue with eg.Etac.

Question 4

Question 4a

How affordable are adaptations to a leased vehicle?

Response to question 4a

Normally these are paid for upfront by Motability so the costs which vary enormously don’t matter to the service user. In some cases especially with vehicles from the Specialised Vehicle Fund cheaper minor adaptations seem to be provided rather than those that are best. eg. sunvisors manually operated rather than remotely operated, driving mirrors.

Question 4b

Does the need for adaptations put people requiring these at a disadvantage in terms of using the scheme?

Response to question 4b

Initially no as these are dealt with by the firm providing the vehicles or assessed via the Special Vehicle Fund. I believe that the customer has to pay to have adaptations moved from one vehicle to the next every 3 years which may be a cost that discourages people from using the scheme.

Question 4c

What grants are available for this group of people and what more can be done to support these needs?

Response to question 4c

I’d suggest they don’t have to pay to have adaptations moved from one vehicle to another and/or vehicles are leased for longer than 3 years so they don’t pay as often. Those cost savings of a longer lease to Motability vs the amount lost on re-sale of the vehicles and additional costs due to MOTs would need to be weighed up.

Special Vehicle Fund

There should be no restrictions on who can apply and disabled people should not have to be in work, education or volunteering outside the home or responsible for another disabled person or child to qualify. But the number of conversion firms may need to be increased if demand rises too much. Disabled people who would use this scheme all qualify for the enhanced rate of PIP or higher rate of DLA so if that is the criteria used for qualification for vehicles and grants then the scheme should be opened up more to them as well.

Question 5

For people who are not eligible, because they do not get the enhanced rate, is there a demand for opening up access to the Motability scheme?

Response to question 5

The vast majority of people who lose entitlement to the scheme through losing their PIP enhanced rate – around 75% - eventually win at appeal and so are able to qualify again for a Motability Vehicle.

If the scheme was going to be extended further then I think the annual funding from central government would also need to be increased and it is difficult to say whether this group of disabled people would use the scheme as they are not as restricted mobility-wise as others are. Some research may be the best way to decide about this. Also as they get a lower amount of PIP would the leases need to be longer to cover the vehicle costs or would those in receipt of the enhanced rate pay less? (the same amount as those on standard rate. I do not think it would be fair or equitable or even legal to charge one group of disabled people the standard rate and another group of disabled people the enhanced rate of PIP for a similar vehicle).

Question 6

Question 6a

How available and/or useful is the information on the Motability scheme?

Response to question 6a

The helpline is very good but the website is difficult for Special Vehicle Fund information to be accessed, It is ‘hidden’ away.

Question 6b

Is support available to access this information?

Response to question 6b

Not that I know of other then by telephone.

Question 6c

How easy is the process involved in leasing a vehicle from Motability for disabled people with varying needs?

Response to question 6c

For most people there is good support either through a Motability supplier for ordinary vehicles and WAVs or through the Specialised Vehicle team for those who need and qualify for a vehicle from that fund.

However there remains the problems outlined previously about exclusion of disabled people from accessing vehicles and grants for a Special Vehicle.

Question 7

Question 7a

How does the need for and/or opportunity to benefit from the Motability scheme intersect with other characteristics such as:

• different experiences of disability – for example physical impairment, mental health condition, learning difficulty.

Response to question 7a

For the majority of people with various impairments either they or a family member or carer as nominated drivers can access the motability scheme without major difficulties. There remains, as already stated, an excluded group of people with physical difficulties who are excluded from the scheme. The exclusions very much appear to be making a dividing line between those disabled people with high support needs who are deemed ‘worthy’ and those who are not deemed to have ‘worthy’ lives.

Question 7b

• other characteristics – such as age, gender, ethnicity – not known
• ‘geography’ – whether disabled people live in a rural or urban environment.

Response to question 7b

Due to the lack of public transport in rural areas in particular there is a need for disabled people to have access to private transport.

Question 8

Do those using the Motability scheme benefit more financially than those eligible for the highest/enhanced rate who do not use the Motability scheme?

Response to question 8

I don’t think this is the case as many people have to pay the whole of their mobility allowance to cover the costs of a vehicle. Plus they need to also be able to pay for fuel and other sundries needed which has to come out of other income.