Do think this statement in Parliament by the Minister for Disabled actually means anything, because it seems to have gone under the radar. Not that I believe a Tory has suddenly developed a conscience, but perhaps the pressure is beginning to tell.
“We have 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.”
Weird, it seems to have snuck past everyone. It makes me wonder how much Penny Mordaunt really knows about PIP and Motability. Because what she appears to be suggesting is that people on the standard rate of PIP for mobility could qualify for the Motability scheme. I wonder what the bosses (or accountants) at Motability think about the suggestion?
The fact is that people who qualified for Motability in the past, because they could only walk 50m, now fail to qualify because they can walk more than 20m. My county council (Warwickshire) recognises this discrepancy and grants Blue Badges to recipients of standard rate mobility PIP. This means that I will keep my Blue Badge even if my request for mandatory reconsideration fails to get me the enhanced mobility component. Given that you can only get enhanced mobility if you are virtually housebound for mental health reasons, or you can hardly walk at all or use a wheelchair, it’s seems fair to extend Motability to those on the standard mobility component, particularly if they scored 0 points for question 13 (it’s question 11 in the assessor’s report).
In my cynical view this is geared as much (if not more) towards the effect of a de facto reduction in Motability vehicles to the economy as a whole than it is to individuals with disabilities. The scheme is one of the largest individual contributors to the car manufacturing and sales sectors in the country and their representatives have been flagging up the problems since the changes in eligibility were first mooted years ago.
Increasing eligibility for the scheme is cost-neutral for the Government (they won’t increase benefits paid) but if more people can opt to have a car with a relatively small extra cost to them it will be a very large increase to the sector. There will be a massive push by manufacturers to push Motability connected finance deals - ker and ching!
I’m so glad you’re here to cut through the bull that’s the governments strategy towards disabled benefits and services. It really helps to be able to see the wider picture. I just couldn’t see beyond the difference in monetary terms between standard and enhanced PIP for mobility and thought it just couldn’t be done. Now I get it.