The Board of Motability Operations has today announced a £200 million donation to Motability, the Charity. We welcome this donation, which is possible due to their current strong financial position. This money will provide continued financial stability for the charity and enable us to continue to help disabled people with their mobility as part of our ongoing commitment to our vision; that no disabled person shall be disadvantaged due to poor access to transportation.
Motability Operations has published their Annual Report and Accounts including their intention to donate £200 million to Motability, ring-fence £645 million to support vehicle affordability over the next three to five years, and their commitment of £525 million to provide New Vehicle Payments to Scheme customers. Motability welcomes these plans.
Motability Operations’ strong financial position is a result of an exceptional and continuing set of circumstances affecting the global car market, including the semi-conductor chip shortage, war in Ukraine, new vehicle supply delays and the resulting extraordinarily high price of second hand cars.
In 2021/22 Motability, the Charity, had a charitable spend of £78 million and awarded 17,626 grants – an increase of 8% on the previous year. Since April we have launched six new grants programmes and appointed an independent consortium to run the £20 million Motability funded Evidence Centre for inclusive transport – a world first. We have also co-sponsored a BSI standard for public charging point accessibility with the Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles, and continue our work to encourage and promote adoption of the standard.
Whilst the charity has significantly increased grant making, including now helping charities and organisations as well as individuals, the problems affecting the global car market, in addition to the current worsening cost-of-living in the UK, are having an increasingly significant impact on our work. We currently face unprecedented levels of demand from beneficiaries for Scheme-related grants as more Scheme customers find themselves unable to afford a suitable vehicle that meets their needs.
Whilst new vehicle supply will gradually improve, for many reasons including rising inflation, it will take some time for prices to stabilise. The Charity therefore, is facing a period of increased demand and increased cost of grant awards. This donation will ensure we are able to meet this demand, whilst continuing to look forwards, ensuring we have the financial capability to help generations of disabled people, even in years when Motability Operations’ Board deem their financial position such that they do not make further donations.