Benefits claimants banned from BMWs and Mercedes under Motability scheme
The move comes after it emerged that 85 per cent of claimants make additional payments to get better cars
People claiming benefits will be barred from leasing BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars after they were removed from the Motability scheme.
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The "premium brand vehicles" will be withdrawn with immediate effect after it emerged that 85 per cent of claimants make additional payments to get better cars.
The scheme allows disability benefit claimants to exchange their mobility allowance for a lease on a new cars, which are exempt from VAT and insurance premium tax.
Audi, Lexus, and Alfa Romeo vehicles have also been removed.
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The scheme, ran by Motability Operations, leases about 300,000 vehicles a year, of which only ten per cent are wheelchair-adapted cars.
The initiative is available to anyone in work or who has a job interview and lives with a disability or health condition in Britain, and is intended to boost employment among those with a disability or a mental health condition.
No formal diagnosis is needed to qualify and no assessment is required "if a customer knows their support requirements."
Speaking earlier this month, the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said that she would be "comfortable" with removing "really high-end cars" from the scheme.
Eligibility is decided by ministers and is being reviewed as part of the Stephen Timms personal independence payments review, which is due to publish its findings in August next year.
Motability says it will now work to ensure that 50 per cent of the vehicles it provides are made in the UK by 2035, giving a boost to British manufacturers.
The move came after it emerged that the taxpayers' bill for a benefit scheme aimed at moving people with disabilities back into the workforce has doubled since the pandemic.
Spending on the government-funded Access to Work scheme, which can offer almost £70,000 a year to individual recipients to fund equipment including wobble boards, noise-cancelling headphones or services including a personal work coach, increased to £321 million in the year to March.
Data published by the Department for Work and Pensions showed the bill for the scheme increased by 22 per cent from the previous year.
It has more than doubled in its total expenditure before the pandemic, when the bill totalled £154 million.
A DWP spokesman said: "Access to Work supports thousands of sick or disabled people to start or stay in work, but the scheme we inherited is failing employees and employers.
"That’s why we're working with disabled people and their organisations to improve the scheme, ensuring people have the support, skills and opportunities to move into good, secure jobs as part of our plan for change."
Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for social security and disability, previously said the problem was the "huge numbers of people wanting it."
People who are deaf or hard of hearing topped the group with the highest expenditure on this year's scheme, making up 28 per cent.
They were followed by those with mental health conditions and those with difficulty in seeing, both of which accounting for 12 per cent of the spending.
The largest group in receipt of the benefit were those with mental health conditions, who made up 38 per cent of the 61,670 people approved in the past year.
What cars are available under Motability scheme?
Some of the manufacturers available on the list:
- Kia Niro
- Hyundai i20
- Mazda CX-30
- Nissan Juke
- Peugeot 208
- Renault Capture
- Renault Clio
- Skoda Fabia
- Suzuki swift
- Ford Focus estate
- Volkswagen T Cross
- Mini Cooper Hatchback
- Volvo XC40