Now quit! Fat cat chief of disabled car firm urged to go
Senior MPs furious at £2million bonus ‘cover-up’
THE fat cat boss of a firm that supplies taxpayer-funded cars to the disabled faced calls to quit last night over claims he was given a secret £2million bonus.
Mike Betts, who earns £1.7million a year as chief executive of publiclyfunded Motability, came under fire from senior politicians from all sides.
Nicky Morgan, a former Conservative Cabinet minister, said: ‘If reports that Mr Betts was awarded a bonus of £2million in addition to his very large salary are correct, clearly he should consider his position. It is hard to see how it could be justified.’ Another politician threatened to put Motability and Mr Betts ‘on trial’ and charge them with contempt of Parliament over claims that the full scale of his pay was kept from MPs.
The warning was made by Frank Field, who is chairman of the Commons work and pensions committee. His panel conducted a joint inquiry into Motability fat cats’ pay with Mrs Morgan’s Treasury committee.
He said: ‘If it is correct an undisclosed bonus of £2million is going to Mr Betts, we will need to consider whether to bring Motability back before us for contempt, given that they may not have provided us with full information on salary packages when they appeared before us.
‘We will want to ask Mr Betts to clarify the scale of his earnings and whether the full facts were kept from us.’
Mr Betts’ pay was heavily criticised earlier this year in a joint inquiry by Mr Field and Mrs Morgan’s Commons committees, which called his multi-million pound earnings ‘grotesque’.
The Daily Mail revealed on Tuesday that the extra £2million is said to have been promised to Mr Betts for his work as head of Motability, a charitable scheme that supplies vehicles to wheelchair users and others in return for part of their benefits.
Mr Betts, who lives in a £5million riverside apartment overlooking Tower Bridge in London, earns 11 times more than Theresa May.
Insiders say the £2million bonus was agreed five years ago, but has not come to light until now. It is thought that Mr Betts will be entitled to the vast sum, which is not related to his pension, in the ‘near future’.
The revelation comes after the Mail reported in February the scandal at the heart of Motability, which was set up in 1977 to help disabled people get around by leasing a car, scooter or powered wheelchair.
This newspaper revealed how the charity, which gets all its money indirectly from the state purse, is hoarding £ 2.4billion of public money – enough to pay for seven new hospitals or 30 new schools.
The then-work and pensions secretary Esther McVey ordered three inquiries as a result of the Mail’s revelations, including one by the National Audit Office, which is due to be published tomorrow. Last night Labour peer Lord Rooker said: ‘Mr Betts and all the directors should consider their positions. There is no justification for this sort of money being taken for running a public service.’ Tory MP Nigel Mills, who sits on the Commons public accounts committee, added: ‘I would be very concerned about this enormous bonus, and if it is true then there is only one option which would be to have a wholesale change at the top.
‘My constituents will be horrified that basically a charity boss is getting not only £1.7million in pay but a £2million bonus on top.
‘It would be bad enough for a high-flying banker, but what Mr Betts is running is not a risky business – he is getting taxpayers’ money to run a charitable service for the disabled.’
Motability, which was founded in 1977, supplies more than 600,000 vehicles. Its customers’ £58-aweek mobility benefits are paid directly to the company, in return for a new vehicle.
Motability gets £2billion a year in disabled benefits and income from the second-hand car market when vehicles are sold after three years. It also receives £750milliona-year tax relief which stops pri-
‘Voters will be horrified’
CAR SCHEME FOR DISABLED PAYS BOSS £1.7MILLION From the Mail, February 6
Now Motability bosses splurge £26million on tarting up their offices The Mail, March 12
Fury at ‘secret’ £2m bonus for boss of disabled car firm Tuesday’s Mail ‘No justification for this’
vate competition. The firm is owned by Barclays, Lloyds, RBS and HSBC and borrows from them to buy new cars for its fleet.
A Motability spokesman has said that full details of Mr Betts’ pay had been given to MPs, adding: ‘Our reporting of all executive remuneration is fully in line with the Companies Act.’
Mr Betts received a mauling when he appeared before Mr Field’s panel in Parliament nine months ago.
Mr Field lambasted him over the ‘ large, large, large amount of money going into your pocket’, adding: ‘It is an affront to the disabled – cars for the disabled is bread and butter stuff. It just needs intelligent book-keeping.’
There was no mention of a £2million bonus at the time.