Accessible Vehicle and Equipment Scheme Quarterly Meeting minutes: Feb 2024

Attendees and apologies

• David George, Chair, Disability Benefits Reform Team Leader
• Hannah Macleod, Disability Benefits Reform Policy Officer
• Shonagh Martin, Disability Benefits Policy Officer
• Natalie McCrindle, Head of Procurement and Commercial, Social Security Scotland
• Norma Mackenzie, Supplier Relationship Manager, Social Security Scotland

Attendees from Motability Foundation and Motability Operations

• Barry Le Grys, CEO, The Motability Foundation

• Andrew Miller, CEO, Motability Operations
• Gavin Thomson, Managing Director for Scotland, Motability Operations
• Bernie Cowper, Oversight Manager, the Motability Foundation
• Edward Curwen, Innovation Manager, Motability Operations

Items and actions

Welcome

The Chair David George welcomed members to the ninth Accessible Vehicle and Equipment (AVE) Scheme quarterly meeting.

Previous meeting minutes and action point update

The minutes from the previous meeting were agreed and formally approved by the group. 

The following updates were given on the previous actions.

Action 1: Social Security Scotland colleagues to add the format of the meetings to the next meeting agenda.

The group agreed that the current meeting format will remain for now and this action can be closed. 

Action 2: Social Security Scotland colleagues to provide background data on how pricing decisions were reached and send to Motability colleagues with the next invoice.

Officials confirmed that they shared a breakdown of costs for the recharge amount invoiced and had a follow up call with Motability colleagues, so this action can be closed. The next invoice will be raised soon, and this will cover the next six months up to 30 September. This has been split into direct staff costs and the overhead costs, and a background note will be provided alongside this. Officials can also share an anticipated figure up to 31 March 2025, but an invoice won’t be raised for this yet. 

Motability colleagues agreed to arrange a further follow up call to conclude on these discussions.  

New action 1: Norma to arrange a meeting to conclude on discussions around the invoice.  

Redacted

Action 4: David George to put Motability colleagues in touch with COSLA and associated stakeholders to assist in further research regarding electric vehicle chargers. 

Action 5: Norma to liaise with stakeholders in Transport Scotland and then arrange a follow up meeting with Motability to discuss options in relation to electric vehicles and charge points.

Actions 4 and 5 can be closed. Social Security Scotland officials met with Transport Scotland and Motability on 14 November to discuss potential solutions. This cross-working group met again on 23 January, and their next meeting will take place soon.

Motability have liaised with Scottish Futures Trust and Local Authorities, and the plan is to run a proof-of-concept project for potential street charging options for people in terraced housing. Motability have also been in commercial discussions with Arnold Clark to negotiate a good deal for their customer at Arnold Clark charging areas, however they are having to manage challenges with DNOs (Distribution Network Operators). 

Social Security Scotland colleagues offered to put Motability in contact with officials from the Just Transition Policy Team as this is a cross cutting issue that will require a co-ordinated effort. Additionally, officials suggested a contact within the Scottish Procurement team. 

New action 2: Officials to reach out to the Just Transition team.

Action 6: Motability colleagues to send officials the first two digits of the postcode in Glasgow mentioned in the presentation. 

This action was completed and can be closed.

Action 7: Officials to check with their VAT team to consider whether wheelchairs would be eligible for the same VAT exemptions vehicles and equipment currently available on the Scheme are. 

Action 8: David George and Hannah to discuss the implementation of entering electric powered wheelchairs into the scheme with Scottish Government colleagues and look at the policy surrounding these. 

Actions 7 and 8 were both completed and can be closed. An update on this was provided later in the meeting. 

Action 9: Scottish Government colleagues to get in touch with relevant policy teams to give Motability colleagues the latest update on SDLA and the transfer of ADP to Social Security Scotland. 

This action was completed, and a further update provided during this meeting. 

Redacted

Motability flagged an email that was sent to Social Security colleagues regarding engagement with ReFLEX, an Orkney based energy company, as there are no dealerships in Orkney making it difficult to service. Officials agreed to look into this as it will make a difference for clients based in Orkney.  

Action 3: Natalie agreed to look into the support that can be provided on the engagement with Orkney based energy company, ReFLEX.  

Status of customer transition and support team

Officials confirmed that they have safely and securely transferred the disability benefit awards of more than 120,000 people from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland amounting to over £420 million in payments since October 2021. They have also completed transferring all Disability Living Allowance for Children awards of children and young people in Scotland to Child Disability Payment. After a small pilot in June, they began transferring Personal Independence Payment awards to Adult Disability Payment from 29 August 2022.

They also began selecting Disability Living Allowance awards for transfer where the person would have otherwise been required to apply for Personal Independence Payment from 29 August 2022. Over 74,000 cases had completed transfer to Adult Disability Payment as of 31 October 2023 and thousands more have transferred since then. 

Transfer from Carer’s Allowance to Carer Support Payment will begin in February 2024 and transfer from Attendance Allowance to Pension Age Disability Payment will begin in 2025. This means they remain on track to meet the aim of completing case transfer for all disability and carer benefits in 2025.

Officials agreed to find out if there are stats available on the number of Motability customers that have transferred. 

Action 4: Officials to find out if there are stats available on the number of Motability customers that have transferred.

Scotland Operational update

Motability issued a background paper ahead of the meeting and provided an overview of the key points, including: 

• there has been significant growth throughout quarter four and Motability now have over 74,000 scheme customers in Scotland. 
• vehicle supply is improving following a period of supply challenges and long waits for vehicles, which is improving vehicle choice and affordability. 
• cars with a low milage capability are becoming more affordable as around half of these have an Advanced Payment of less than £1000. 
• a recent external review showed there is a 96% customer satisfaction rate. 
• the RAC have recently released a new app for customers as they aim for continuous improvement 

Motability highlighted their contract with Europcar, which helps customers stay mobile when their car is off the road. Currently there is no limit as to how long a customer can be using a hire car from Europcar, however Motability are considering alternatives that may be more suitable for some customers and more economically sustainable for the company. 

Charging Innovation update

Motability gave a presentation on their recent innovation work on on-street charging. This presentation highlighted the need for innovative charging solutions and what Motability are doing to prepare for this, particularly for customers living in flats. 

All council areas in Scotland now have access to NEVIS, a platform that holds data on where Motability customers are by fuel type broken down by Data Zones. 

Motability have partnered with Arnold Clark to offer customers bookable charging through Arnold Clark Charge sites. The first three sites in Scotland will go live in April 2024. 

Motability are also working with Scottish councils to explore cross pavement solutions through pilots led and funded by Motability. Uptake from councils has been low, as only three have agreed to participate in the pilot so far. Officials suggested Motability colleagues reach out to Chief Executives of Councils. Motability flagged that they will likely need support from officials to move this pilot forward.

Governance proposal

Motability outlined the changes they have made to their recent Governance Proposal including reducing the detail of the upfront description of each meeting. They are going to have two versions of this document: the current version that will be used to get started with the governance, and a second version that can be used to make a Governance Schedule within the contract.

Motability and Social Security Scotland colleagues agreed that they would do a tidy up of the contract and they will put together a key personnel schedule. 

Colleagues reminded that David Hall and Bernie Cowper should be kept in the loop for any contractual changes. 

Status of new product deployment: manual wheelchairs, power add ons and segways

Motability confirmed that this work has progressed well, and they are now in the final stages of confirming the contract. This will be soft launched in the next few weeks but there are some sensitivities with DWP that need to be considered as this will only be available in Scotland. As a result, there will be no proactive marketing of this change, however it will be highlighted on the Motability website and dealers will promote it to customers.

Ministerial update

Motability were asked to provide a briefing for Social Security Scotland to inform a briefing they are putting together for Scottish Ministers. Officials agreed that this briefing was comprehensive and useful. It will be shared with Ms Somerville, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice. 

Motability shared that they are meeting with Miss Roddick, Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees, and they would be happy to meet with Ms Somerville as well. 

Officials noted that there are a number of Ministerial portfolios who may have an interest in Motability’s work, and it would be helpful to engage with them to provide visibility of Motability’s work.

Motability Foundation update

Motability Foundation colleagues issued a background paper for this agenda item. The main points from this paper include: 

• a donation from Motability Operations has allowed Motability Foundation to extend their commitment to their Grants to Charities and Organisations portfolio for a further three years beyond March 2025.
• Motability Foundation are running in a deficit in their general fund and they will be close to £130 million in charitable spend for this year. 
• Motability Foundation’s innovation team have been working on the PAS 1899 standard, which provides clear specifications for making charge points accessible. 
• they have appointed two assessors who will assess whether charge points are at the PAS 1899 standard. 
• Motability Foundation met with MACS in Autumn 2023, and they will meet with them again in Autumn this year 

Motability Foundation are undergoing a strategic review as a new strategy is due to launch in September. They are currently consulting with disabled people as part of this review. The feedback from this will be available around May and they will provide officials with an update.

Barry Le Grys informed officials of his upcoming retirement. Officials expressed their thanks and appreciation for the work Barry has done over the last few years. 

Action 5: Motability Foundation to provide officials with an update on the strategic review. 

Motability Operations update

Motability Operations colleagues provided a verbal update. 

The transition to electric vehicles (EV) is an ongoing challenge, and Motability Operations will need to continue managing costs and communicating expectations to customers. It is clear from surveys that the popularity of EVs is currently low, however soon there won’t be a supply of petrol cars. Car manufacturers are now fined €15,000 if they produce too many petrol cars compared to electric cars. The first petrol cars that will no longer be manufactured are likely to be less profitable cars like many of the cars offered by Motability. The move to EVs will be particularly challenging for people using Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs) as these are all petrol. 

In November 2023, the retail value of used cars dropped significantly by around 20% because consumer demand has fallen. This has caused a challenge as Motability have had a write down of half a million cars in the last three months, which will show as losses in their accounts. Due to the price changes, AVE scheme take-up his been significant so there has been huge growth. Motability’s debts will stand at around £9 billion at the end of this year as they raise debt to buy cars for the growing number of customers. 

As the value of second-hand vehicles is falling and the price of all the elements of the package Motability offer is increasing e.g. insurance, repairs, hire cars, Motability expect their profits to decrease significantly or even to report a loss this financial year. They also predict that they are likely to have to increase the cost of leases for customers. Procurement colleagues encouraged Motability to consider how they might mitigate against this, for example it was suggested an alternative car hire supplier may offer better value for money.

The continuous changes in the marketplace and the challenges around EVs mean Motability will have to manage expectations for customers, which may lead to criticism from MACS. To reduce challenges, Motability will be running a marketing campaign to show customers the value of the scheme, they are looking at in-market benchmarking, and they will be reviewing the management of the New Vehicle Payment. 

Any other business and close

No other business was raised. The chair formally closed the meeting.