Minister for Disabled visits Motability in Harlow
Business / Thu 2nd Mar 2023 am31 09:12am
THE Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Tom Pursglove MP, visited Motability’s offices in Harlow.
During his visit he spoke with beneficiaries and members of staff and learnt more about the types of grants Motability can award to disabled people.
A spokesperson said: “The Minister visited Motability’s solution centre to understand how our assessments take place with disabled people and had to opportunities to learn more about the diverse range of beneficiaries we support on a daily basis.
At Motability, we fund, support, research and innovate to help all disabled people make the journeys they choose.
We oversee the Mobility Scheme which is a car leasing scheme for disabled people receiving certain disability benefits, and is run day-to-day by Motability Operations. We provide grants to help people use it, and we award grants to other charities and organisations who provide different types of transport, or work towards making transport accessible. Currently there are over 650,000 disabled people on the Motability Scheme.
“In recent years, Motability, has expanded its reach beyond that of just those who use the Motability Scheme, with projects to help all 14.6m disabled people in the UK. We also carry out research, in partnership with disabled people and key stakeholders in the industry, to inspire innovations that continue to champion accessible transport for all. We co-sponsored a world leading national accessible EV charging standard, in partnership with the UK Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). Produced by the British Standards Institute (BSI), the standard provides industry with a clear specification of how to make public EV charging accessible.
“Over the past year, Motability has also launched six new grant programmes to help other charities and organisations to provide transportation solutions to disabled people and funded the new £20m National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT), which will be run by Coventry University and a number of consortium members”.
Barry Le Grys, CEO of Motability, said: “We were delighted to welcome Tom Pursglove to our offices today to showcase the incredible work of Motability.
Spending time with Tom today has enabled us to show that whilst the Scheme remains the cornerstone of our work, we are here to help all disabled people, whether they choose to use the Scheme or not. Through our work, and our collaboration with other organisations and charities, we can amplify the voices of disabled people. My hope is that in the future, the important work that is being carried out today will enable all disabled people to travel in the way they choose.”
Tom Pursglove MP, Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work said: “It was great to visit Motability’s offices, meet their team and hear all about the various ways they help disabled people access much-needed transport.
“I look forward to hearing more about their upcoming grant programmes and innovative EV charging projects and continuing our important work together.”
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Jerry
2023-03-02 16:47:32
I can understand the Motability scheme but what I do not understand is why this benefit is not means tested (as most benefits are now). You had the case of a £2 million lottery winner claiming a free taxpayer funded car with all that money in the bank. Outrageous !!
Tomcat
2023-03-02 19:14:29
The shear number of people in Harlow who benefit from the mobility scheme is astonishing and I would say majority of them are able bodied IE they dont need mobility cars! My neighbors daughter gets one as her son has ADHD and another neighbour gets one even though she walks her dog 2 miles a day yet her husband finds use for it every day and they even have a disabled parking spot painted outside their home for him to park in when he gets home from work!
Gareth Gotts
2023-03-20 19:13:49
It always amuses me just how utterly ignorant unkind and damn right nasty people can be over nothing other than complete jealousy. Firstly these cars are far from free they cost over £9000 to the disabled person over the course of a 3 year lease. Everyone becomes a through the net curtain specialist when it comes deciding the entitlement of disabled people. If they were awarded a little blue three wheeler from the 70s I’m sure you would then find your sympathy. Not everything is clear cut when you judge from afar. I can assure you they Dont give these cars out easily. In fact many genuine claimants have been refused. You have to prove a disability then have it confirmed by specialists, this whole system is degrading and humiliating even to people with live long conditions, the myth that you might wander into a job centre on a whim and then be roaring off in a new merc the next day is all propaganda spread by very ignorant people and in my experience the type of person that does speak in that way usually works cash in hand contributing nothing to the public purse anyway. The is quite a high possibility that before retirement age you may be struck down with an appalling condition, I can imagine you would be saying ‘ no I’m ok I Dont want the support that Motability has to offer’. Yeah right !
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