Business Ventilation Fund: evaluation

Methodology

This evaluation report draws on two key sources of information to understand the outputs and outcomes of the BVF:

• management information data collected as part of the applications process; and
• an online survey of businesses who engaged with the scheme.

Management information data

A summary of the management information data collected as part of the administration of the fund was published on 8 June 2022. This provides information on the number of applications, awards and payments with breakdowns by sector and business characteristics. It also provides information on the processing of the fund, reasons for application rejections and withdrawals and ventilation items purchased. Data was collected at the premise level, with some businesses applying and receiving awards for multiple premises. The figures presented are at the premise level. Data is as of 6 June 2022.

Business survey

An online survey was conducted with businesses who engaged with the fund to further understand the outcomes of the fund and users' experiences of the application and claim process. The survey was targeted towards all businesses who had engaged with the fund - this included those who only completed the self-assessment tool through to those businesses who completed the application and claim process and received funding^[3].

The survey received 172 responses, of which, 152 had completed an application. Of the 152 respondents who completed an application, 104 had been accepted and 48 had been rejected. Of the 104 who proceeded to the claims stage, 76 were successful with 28 unsuccessful claims. Given the sample sizes involved, it has not been possible to disaggregate the survey findings by sector, number of employees, etc.

The management information data shows that the fund received 1,363 applications, of which 577 were accepted, 250 were rejected, 514 were closed and 22 were withdrawn. The 104 surveyed businesses that were accepted therefore account for approximately 18% of the total number of accepted applications (577) while the 48 surveyed businesses that had their applications rejected account for approximately 19% of the total number of rejected applications (250)^[4].

The success rate of survey respondents who completed an application and were successful in making a claim is 50%, slightly higher than the overall fund application success rate for completed claims of 42%.

The survey was hosted on the Citizen Space platform and was live for three weeks from 16 May to 6 June 2022. As a private survey, it only allowed those who had received the email link to be able to respond.

Using both multiple choice answer options and open text options, the survey provided a mix of qualitative and quantitative data for the evaluation. The survey used a skip logic design to allow respondents to only answer the questions that were relevant to them, depending on their previous answers.