The £1.7m salary paid to the chief executive of the firm which runs the Motability disabled car scheme is "totally unacceptable," say MPs. The remuneration package of Mike Betts has grown by 78% from £954,000 in 2008. Motability said Mr Bett's pay was based on a comparison with FTSE 250 firms. The Treasury and Work & Pensions committees found funds of £2.4bn were also being needlessly hoarded. The National Audit Office would look into the issues raised, the government said. "The Secretary of State has stated that Motability provides an extremely valuable service to disabled people but the levels of executive pay and financial reserves are concerning," a spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions added.

The Motability scheme arranges cars for disabled people in exchange for some of their state disability allowance - their Personal Independence Payment benefit. Motability Operations - the firm which runs the scheme - is a monopoly which faces no competition.The two Parliamentary committees say that the government needs to explain why state assistance for the firm - in the absence of competition - is an appropriate use of public money.

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