Motability Operations Group is not a charity and does not come under the Charity Commission’s jurisdiction as charity law regulator. The company provides a commercial service to the charity Motability which in turn oversees the Motability scheme. As many have stated, the Motability scheme provides an absolutely vital and important service to thousands of people across the UK.
We are aware of the issues reported in the media and indeed recently undertook a detailed review of the charity’s financial accounts and of its relationship with the non-charitable company Motability Operations. That review did not identify regulatory concerns about the charity’s governance or its relationship with the commercial company. It is not for the Commission to comment on the pay of the CEO of a large non-charitable commercial company. However, we have made clear to the trustees of the charity Motability that the pay of the CEO of its commercial partner Motability Operations may be considered excessive and may raise reputational issues for the charity. These reputational issues are for the trustees to manage.
We also made clear, following the conclusion of our review last year, that we consider the level of operating capital held by the company in order to guarantee the scheme to be cautious, and agreed with the charity, as part of its oversight of the scheme, that it would ensure this this matter is kept under continuous review.