Three probes for disability cars scheme af ter Mail exposes £2.4bn cash pile

THREE official inquiries were ordered last night into the £2.4billion Motability scandal.

Ministers took action following revelations in the Mail that the charitable car scheme for the disabled was hoarding the huge surplus.

Esther McVey, the Work and Pensions Secretary, praised this newspaper for raising the issue, and said Motability appeared to have lost its way.

MPs from all parties lined up to condemn the £1.7million salary paid to the nonprofit firm’s boss, Mike Betts.

Miss McVey told the Commons she had asked the National Audit Office to consider an urgent inquiry ‘to check how taxpayers’ money is being used’.

She ordered the Charity Commission to conduct a second inquiry.

And another urgent inquiry was announced by Frank Field, the chairman of the Commons work and pensions committee. Motability bosses are expected to be summoned to answer questions.

Motability, which arranges cars for wheelchair users and others in return for their state disability allowances, has been squirrelling away £200million a year in unspent funds. It has defended its reserves as ‘appropriate and proportionate’.

But Miss McVey told the Commons: ‘Having such an amount of money in reserves is grotesque, and it should really be going to support disabled people. I thank the media for exposing the situation, which needs to come under the spotlight. Freedom of our Press has aired the case. This scheme, which was set up with the best intentions and good purposes, and has helped people, appears to have lost its way.’

She vowed that ‘when we have got the money back from Motability’ it would be put to good causes. The minister was summoned to the Commons for an urgent question from Labour MP John Mann.

He told MPs: ‘It is grotesque that this registered charity, which is funded by the taxpayer through a direct grant from Government, is carrying cash reserves of £2.4billion and has been underspending its budget by £200million a year. And it is grotesque that this charity is paying its chief executive £1.7million a year.’ Mr Betts, who is 55, lives in a £5million riverside apartment overlooking Tower Bridge, banks with Coutts and takes Caribbean holidays.

The firm’s former second-in-command David Gilman, 65, was paid £1.1million in 2016, and his replacement Matthew Hamilton-James, 44, earned £550,000 last year.

Motability says it stockpiles cash in case of hard times. It says its executives are the best in the business and deserve their pay, which consists mainly of bonuses given only for high performance.

A spokesman said: ‘Motability has always embraced public accountability and transparency, so we warmly welcome a NAO review and any wider scrutiny.’

The NAO will decide whether to grant the request for an inquiry.

CAR SCHEME FOR DISABLED PAYS BOSS £1.7MILLION Tuesday’s Daily Mail