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- December 4, 2018 at 2:12 pm #66708
Friday sees the National Audit Office (NAO) publish its report into Motability Operations.
There has been some reports in the press relating bonuses paid to directors. I am not going to post any links. Sorry.
Expect TV and Print to take up the story.
Heavy sigh.
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- December 4, 2018 at 2:29 pm #66710
Yes our friends at the Daily Mail have already reported on it yesterday, picking on £2million bonuses. Oops spoiler!
December 4, 2018 at 2:33 pm #66711At the end of the day Mobility has provided disabled customers with an excellent service for many years, the alternatives Capita or ATOS running the scheme.
December 4, 2018 at 2:45 pm #66713There is absolutely no doubt that motability do a good job, the question is “could it be better”. There is no doubt in my mind that the service we get is very good but could it be cheaper. Absolutely, the perks the workers get are second to none and I am not just talking about Directors all workers have medical insurance free final salary pensions etc etc etc.
motability operations have given £400000000 to motability charity this year so there is plenty of money being thrown in all directions that could be passed back to us in the form of cheaper APs more choice cheaper automatics etc etc etc.
The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.December 4, 2018 at 3:07 pm #66718This is what the NAO are examining – the governance arrangements for Motability and Motability Operations Group plc, its treasury and financing arrangements, its day to day operations and longer term business development activity.
The latter, the longer term business development activity, is personally what i am more interested in.
Forgot the Daily Mail reporting, the NAO will publish the facts.
December 4, 2018 at 3:08 pm #66719Ben StewartThat 400m has only come about due to this investigation and finding that motability operations were holding 2.5bn in reserve.
December 4, 2018 at 3:42 pm #66722LittledaveThey are not holding £2.4bn in reserves. The figure represents the accumulated profits since Motability’s inception. The funds are invested in the cars we run. There is no magic money tree available.
December 4, 2018 at 4:11 pm #66730Ben StewartIt is cash reserves dave, that’s what caused the stink in the first place.
Their actual fleet is worth over 6bn.
The whole reason this is even a thing is because why is a company that’s essentially a charity and receives over 700m of tax breaks a year able to amass such reserves.
2008 – 800m
2017 – 2.5bn
That’s also were some very gray areas come into play.
If you look at motability accounts all available freely online around 200-250m a year is coming from investments that don’t really have anything to do with the scheme and something charity’s are prohibited from doing.
Personally I’m not fussed about how much they stash away or how much someone gets paid. It seems to me a very well ran scheme but yes there are areas it can certainly improve.
Take some of that 240m investment portfolio and throw a couple of m at making autos the same ap as manuals for starters, I don’t care if it’s disability or preference as to why an autos needed it should be an option regardless
December 4, 2018 at 4:43 pm #66734Yes I would like to have seen a reductions in AP rather than £400 million going elsewhere, Mobility has a monopoly funded by the government on behalf of vulnerable disable customers. I have no problem with them taking a fair wage, but if some of the rumours of perks and bonus are half true, I am not surprised the NAO are investigating them. Putting it blunt this is the tax payers and disabled customers money, Mobility are there to manage it.
December 4, 2018 at 4:50 pm #66735When this first came to light there were calls for motability give back surplus cash to the government…. hang on a minute…. that is our money, not the government! If any returning of money is instructed it should come back to the customers.
That’s one thing i’m not sure on, is what jurisdiction the NAO have here, being that Motability is not a public body. Can it instruct or only advise?
December 4, 2018 at 5:04 pm #66736This money should be used towards specially adapted vehicles for disabled families and users, the reduction in AP of large family MPV etc.
December 4, 2018 at 5:27 pm #66739I am all for people getting a decent wage and decent conditions but to get private healthcare a final salary pension which is non contributory seems ridiculous. My daughter is a school teacher and pays 8% of her salary towards a pension, so even local council “gold plated” pension isn’t as good as Motability’s.
Anyone can go onto their site and look under vacancies to see the conditions being offered, they don’t advertise the wages which seems strange to me.
The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.December 4, 2018 at 5:29 pm #66740Ben StewartNone whatsoever Trev tbh.
They will audit.
They will prepare findings for parliment.
Parliment will take any action they see fit based on the findings but essentially there is nothing they can do.
They ruled out any wrongdoings last year between motability the charity and motability operations. So they can’t suddenly say well your no longer getting the disablement tax breaks.
They can however though make recommendations to ops but ops don’t have to follow them.
But if ops didn’t you then open up a massive can of worms.
All the govt has to say is ok we don’t like the way you are running it we are now going to allow direct payments to other companies.
The monopoly is over prices would likely fall in a race to catch custom but then as they realise it’s unsustainable to run several smaller schemes in a constant fight for every customer the whole system would implode.
It’s in the govt, motability and the customers best interests that motability ops take one for the proverbial team.
December 4, 2018 at 5:32 pm #66743Motability should be left alone to continue running the scheme.
I would be lost without my car (especially the ability to have two named drivers on the insurance).
I’m struggling physically at the moment and two of my sons (named drivers) share the burden of keeping me mobile.
I know they would both do it if I just had a basic car on the scheme, but I’m sure that the fact that they get to drive my BMW X1 XLine Xdrive 25D (231bhp) beauty must give them a prod in the right direction when they don’t really want to go out!
Thank you Motability.
December 4, 2018 at 6:10 pm #66744Leaving motability to carry on as they are is not an option. As a monopoly Motability has been self auditing itself for many years. It is clear that this has failed, not for the day to day service that we receive which is very good, but for the costs being transferred to us the customers. It is clear that there are millions of pounds profit being generated but not used for the benefit of its customers rather than for those who work within the company.
A limit of profit generated each year must be set with more of this money going on reduced APs and reducing the cost of automatics and more help with adaptations.
The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.December 4, 2018 at 6:41 pm #66747I cannot see the government doing anything but bump their gums as usual, they are not interested in the slightest about the mobility customers, there little green eyes are set on those £2.4 billion. All I can see them doing is reducing the mobility element thus reducing the payments to Mobility.
I am surprised the major car manufacturers have not developed their own mobility schemes, if you look on site they are always pushing their finance packages, I except it would not be suitable for all mobility customers.
December 4, 2018 at 6:44 pm #66748If the government interferes with the running of Motability, it will signal the beginning of the end for a independently run scheme. I fear we will suffer if that happens.
December 4, 2018 at 6:51 pm #66750Pops but there supposed to be there for the Mobility disabled customers not to line their pockets, without any competitors AP will stay artificially high, they are not here to hold you to ransom?
December 4, 2018 at 9:30 pm #66752I’m biased Brydo because after I had a serious accident in the mid 1990’s Motability were there for me and were brilliant.
Over two decades later I can see the flaws and wrinkles in the scheme, but my honest belief is that Government intervention in the running of the scheme will very quickly dehumanise it.
I can see your side of the argument for competition, but I would hate to see the scheme founder due to outsider opportunism.
December 4, 2018 at 10:12 pm #66753Ben StewartAre they lining their own pockets though ?
That was a key thing in the previous motability/ops investigation.
The positions aren’t paid above and beyond what you would expect in another company of a similar stature.
But certainly they don’t need 2.5bn market fluctuations funds to protect them.
That to me is the key part what is actually needed for that fund and what can be reinvested elsewhere in line with the schemes goals be it even aps on autos, lower aps, better dealership support etcetc
And that’s pretty much the goal of this audit.
December 4, 2018 at 10:16 pm #66754Pops until recently I would have totally agreed with you but what’s clear is that motability operations have been left to their own devices. The charity should have given clear guidance/rules to ensure there knew what was acceptable spending.
The money they are spending is generated by us and they are allowed to do what they like with it. I have talked about what the workers get in pay and conditions but why do they need an HQ in London? Surely there are much cheaper areas of the country to set up an HQ plus they have a second office in Plymouth (I think).
I am happy for motability operations to run the scheme but there must be someone looking after their spending and rules must be applied to ensure they are spending our money wisely.
The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.December 4, 2018 at 10:25 pm #66757Ben there are no other companies in a similar position. Motability have no composition they can’t fail it’s almost impossible. That is why their targets are customer satisfaction if they get high customer satisfaction they get a bonus and more money.
I had a look at the graduates scheme they run, there is not one graduate with a degree in anything that would be useful to the business. There were geography degrees English etc not one had anything to do with cars or finance. This suggests to me that you don’t need very much business sense to be employed by the company.
The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.December 4, 2018 at 10:28 pm #66758The sad thing about all of this is that it’s likely that we will end up suffering all through other people’s greed.
The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.December 5, 2018 at 6:15 pm #66823DragonflyI simply do not understand why the mobility charity would want to build up such a large reserve. The reserve is a clear sign post that something is amiss, any reserve should have, over the years, been reinvested in the members the Charity serves.
December 5, 2018 at 7:26 pm #66824LittledaveI have read the accounts. As an acc0untant I understand them. The £2.4 ban is the accumulated profit earned since the inception of the company. Cash and bank balances amounted to £1.168 bn, part of total current assets of £1.830 bn. Current liabilities are £1.290 bn, leaving net current assets of £540 mn. As you state vehicles are £6.413bn. However, there are outstanding borrowings against the vehicles of £4.698 bn. Motability Operations ltd is not a charity, it is a limited company owned by by the four largest banks. No dividends are paid. Whilst Motability Operations Ltd can be criticised, at least let’s base it on hard facts, not distorted figures used by the press and MPs with an agenda to pursue.
December 5, 2018 at 7:49 pm #66826Thank you Little Dave for clearing that up that make more sense, like most of us I thought Mobility are a charity?.
So why have the government asked the NAO to investigate the scheme? I am confused.
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