Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme evaluation - devolved disability benefits: research

1. Introduction and context

In May 2023, the Scottish Government commissioned The Lines Between (TLB) to carry out research to inform a policy impact evaluation of the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment (AVE) Scheme in delivering the disability benefits devolved from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to Social Security Scotland.

This report summarises our findings. Chapter 1 outlines the Scheme’s policy background and summarises our research methodology.

Policy background

The AVE Scheme enables people who receive the higher rate mobility component of Child Disability Payment (CDP) or the enhanced rate mobility component of Adult Disability Payment (ADP) from Social Security Scotland to use this component of their benefit payments to lease an accessible vehicle or mobility equipment. This can include a car, powered wheelchair or scooter (PWS), or a wheelchair-accessible vehicle (WAV).

In Scotland, the AVE Scheme is replacing the Motability Scheme which provides vehicles and equipment for people receiving DWP disability benefits.

Such support can enhance independent travel and enable beneficiaries to take journeys they would not otherwise be able to,^{[1] [2]} due, at least in part, to difficulties that some disabled people can have in accessing public transport.^[3]

Currently the only accredited provider under the Scheme is Motability Operations, but the Scheme was designed to enable more than one provider to seek accreditation. One aim of the AVE Scheme is to involve additional providers to increase the options available to Scheme members.

Motability Operations works with a network of dealers across Scotland to provide vehicles and equipment to disabled people. The organisation can also support users to obtain grants, from its charity arm, The Motability Foundation, to fund the advance payment that clients must make to access some vehicles, equipment or adaptations beyond their disability benefit payments.

The study aims to assess the effectiveness of the Scheme in meeting its policy commitments:

• Individuals have a choice about what provider they choose under the AVE Scheme.
• Individuals can choose an accredited provider that meets their mobility needs.
• Additional providers will have the opportunity to join the Scheme at regular intervals.
• Individuals who currently have a lease with Motability will not lose their vehicle and will continue to enjoy the same standards of service.
• No individual will be subject to a credit check to access a vehicle or equipment.
• Individuals will pay no more than their weekly mobility component to lease a vehicle.
• Individuals can choose to pay an advance payment to lease specific vehicles or equipment that meet their needs, or choose from a range of vehicles or equipment with no advance payment.
• All providers will be required to offer the same high standards of service.
• Make communications about the AVE Scheme as simple and as clear as possible, and tell clients about how to access it.

Issues with payments and dealers

In 2022 the Scottish Government undertook research with 277 Social Security Experience Panel members to inform the development of the AVE Scheme.^[4] Many respondents who had experience of using the Scheme reported high levels of satisfaction, with almost nine out of 10 respondents indicating the Scheme was 'good' or 'very good'. However, issues with paying for higher expenditure items, such as providing an advance payment to secure vehicles of a higher specification or funding for adaptations, were identified. The research also indicated variability in availability, quality and attitudes among dealers providing repairs or maintenance. This research builds on the findings of the 2022 report by further exploring Scheme members' experiences, as well as those of dealers, which were largely unknown before this research.

Take up of the Scheme

The latest statistics show that take up of the Scheme among ADP clients with a mobility award was 9% as of 31 October 2023,^[5] and 8% among CDP clients with a mobility award as of 31 December 2023.^[6]

The research in 2022 with Experience Panel members asked respondents about reasons for never using the Motability Scheme and found that, among those aware they were eligible, the primary reason for low take-up related to costs, with 28% of respondents noting they needed their disability assistance for other purposes. However, many other reasons were given, not all detailed in the report (23% cited 'another reason'). This research has further explored why people who could use the Scheme do not.

Research objectives

The research objectives are:

• To understand more about providers’ experience of and thoughts about the accreditation process to increase higher levels of applications in the future.
• To understand more about AVE Scheme members’ experience of the Scheme and how this relates to the policy commitments of choice, value for money, and a service that meets their needs.
• To understand more about non-AVE Scheme members’ reasons for not joining, to provide a better insight into needs that are not currently being met.
• To understand dealers’ experiences of the AVE Scheme, of helping and supporting individuals to find equipment and/or a vehicle that meets their needs.
• To pre-identify, in collaboration with Scottish Government policy and analytical colleagues, potential short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes of the AVE Scheme that are in line with Social Security Principles and wider governmental objectives.
• To test whether these outcomes have been met by examining individual impacts directly and indirectly, and to identify other outcomes that emerge in the findings to help improve policy and practice.

This report also suggests other improvements in the Scheme and how it could develop further. The study focuses on the experiences of four main groups:

• Providers (both those who have applied for accreditation and those who have not).
• Eligible CDP and ADP clients who have accessed the AVE Scheme.
• Eligible CDP and ADP clients who do not take up the Scheme.
• Dealers who support AVE Scheme members in sourcing appropriate equipment and vehicles.

Methodology

The methodology involved five key phases. These are summarised below and further details are in Appendix 2:

Phase 1: Inception and foundation

• Inception meeting.
• Review of key policy documents outlining the background to the AVE Scheme and its aims.
• Facilitating a workshop with Research Advisory Group (RAG) members to develop a logic model for the Scheme and identify the outcomes that the Scheme aims to achieve. Appendix 1 includes the logic model developed as a result of the workshop.
• Design of research tools and sampling plan.

Phase 2: Interviews with providers

• Interviews with 12 representatives of nine providers of vehicles or equipment (six of the nine providers had applied for accreditation).
• RAG meeting and presentation of emerging findings.

Phase 3: Interviews with dealers

• Interviews with 12 individuals representing 11 dealers who work with Motability Operations to deliver the AVE Scheme.
• Interim report summarising findings from provider and dealer interviews.

Phase 4: Fieldwork with members and non-members

• Survey of eligible non-members with 580 valid responses and 32 additional survey responses from individuals who identified as members.
• Follow-up interviews with 27 eligible non-members who responded to the survey.
• Interviews with 25 members.

Phase 5: Analysis and report writing

• Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data and preparation of final report.

Research participants – members and non-members

We received survey responses from and interviewed a diverse range of CDP and ADP clients. Details of research participants’ demographic profile are in Appendix 3 and a brief summary is below.

Most research participants were ADP clients and there were more clients who had transferred from DWP than were new applicants to Social Security Scotland. White participants were the majority but there was also representation of minority ethnic communities. Participants lived in urban and rural areas, while there was a balanced spread across Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintiles, genders and age brackets. Participants reported experiencing a range of health conditions and disabilities, most commonly those that affect mobility; breathing, fatigue or stamina; learning, understanding or concentrating; dexterity; and socially or behaviourally (for example, associated with Autism, attention deficit disorder or Asperger’s syndrome).

A note about terminology

Throughout the report, we refer to the AVE Scheme and the pre-AVE Scheme:

• The AVE Scheme is Social Security Scotland’s Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme, available to ADP and CDP recipients receiving the higher or enhanced rate mobility component. Motability Operations is an accredited provider under the Scheme.
• The pre-AVE Scheme refers to the scheme available to people who receive DWP disability benefits and is operated exclusively by Motability Operations. This includes some people in Scotland as the process of transferring DWP recipients in Scotland to Social Security Scotland disability payments is ongoing.

When we refer to AVE Scheme members, these are CDP and ADP clients who were leasing a vehicle or equipment through the Scheme at the time of the research.

Non-members include CDP and ADP clients who were not leasing a vehicle or equipment through the AVE Scheme at the time of the research, but who receive the higher or enhanced rate of mobility and hence were eligible for the Scheme. This includes clients who have never used the Scheme as well as some who have used the AVE or pre-AVE Scheme in the past but no longer do so.

Where we refer to Motability, we are referring to Motability Operations rather than Motability Foundation (formerly known as the Motability Charity), unless otherwise stated.

As Motability is currently the only provider involved with the AVE Scheme, some research participants referred to the Scheme as ‘the Motability Scheme’ in their comments. We have not changed their words when presenting direct quotations.

A note about weight and frequency

This report synthesises the themes identified in interviews and survey responses. A wide range of views were expressed and, while it is not feasible to include detail about each participant’s viewpoint and experiences in the report, the most commonly reported themes are summarised.

We collected qualitative data from interviewees and quantitative data from non-member survey respondents. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions does not permit the quantification of results. However, a framework is used to convey the most to least commonly identified themes to assist the reader in interpreting the findings. This applies where we are discussing qualitative responses from members and non-members who took part in interviews as well as free text responses to open-ended questions in the non-members’ survey:

• The most common/second most common theme; the most frequently identified.
• Many respondents; 18 or more members or non-members, or eight or more providers or dealers, another prevalent theme.
• Several respondents; 13-17 members or non-members, or 6-7 providers or dealers, a recurring theme.
• Some respondents; 6-12 members or non-members, or 4-5 providers or dealers, another theme.
• A few / a small number of respondents; five or fewer members or non-members, or three or fewer providers or dealers, a less commonly mentioned theme.

Illustrative quotes are included throughout the report. Some quotes have been lightly edited for readability, for example by removing repetition and unfinished sentences, without changing their meaning.

Quantitative survey data was analysed by running frequency tables to analyse the responses to each question and by compiling cross-tabulations to identify any differences in responses based on respondents’ demographic characteristics including age, ethnicity, deprivation, urban-rural classification and whether they are CDP or ADP clients.

Report structure

This report is structured as follows:

• Chapter 2 explores providers’ experiences of the accreditation process.
• Chapter 3 discusses dealers’ experiences of the Scheme.
• Chapter 4 assesses awareness and understanding of the Scheme among CDP and ADP clients.
• Chapter 5 analyses members’ experiences of the Scheme.
• Chapter 6 summarises the impact of the Scheme.
• Chapter 7 considers non-members’ reasons for not using the Scheme and what could be done to encourage or enable them to use it.
• Chapter 8 includes our conclusions and areas for consideration.

Appendix 1 contains the AVE Scheme logic model developed as part of this study, Appendix 2 provides details of our methodology and Appendix 3 includes a demographic profile of the members and non-members who took part in our research. Appendix 4 contains discussion of the outcomes and risk factors identified in the logic model and Appendix 5 includes the survey questions for non-members.