The Conservative Party has announced plans to tighten access to the Motability scheme by restricting eligibility for people with conditions such as ADHD, mild depression and anxiety.
The proposal centres on changes to the enhanced rate of Personal Independence Payment (Pip), which currently supports disabled people who need extra help with mobility, including physical movement, planning routes and leaving their home.
Under the new approach, people with mental health conditions would no longer qualify for the enhanced mobility component. Losing this level of support would also block access to the Motability scheme, which helps claimants lease a new vehicle through welfare support.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch argued that the changes are intended to make the system fairer and ease the financial burden on taxpayers. She said the welfare system has become too easy to exploit and insisted that her party aims to refocus support on those with the greatest needs. She also accused Labour of refusing to confront rising welfare costs.
The Conservatives plan to present a broader welfare strategy in a speech next week. The announcement follows a previous attempt in 2017 to remove entitlement based on psychological distress, a move that was later ruled discriminatory by the High Court. Party sources now say that plans to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and repeal the Human Rights Act would protect future reforms from legal challenges.
Labour responded by highlighting its own reforms to the Motability scheme, including efforts to cut costs by removing luxury vehicles and saving hundreds of millions of pounds for taxpayers. The government said these decisions are part of a wider economic plan to support growth, reduce debt, shorten NHS waiting lists and ease pressures linked to the cost of living. Labour also criticised the Conservative record on welfare, arguing that debt and welfare pressures increased significantly during their fourteen years in power.
