Question Areas

In the user and employer interviews we explored five main question areas in the following order.

• What would have happened if Access to Work were not available at the time of

application?

• What alternatives to Access to Work were possible at the time of application to

Access to Work?

• How acceptable would these alternatives have been? • What difference has Access to Work made?

• What would happen if Access to Work were not available at the point of

interview?

When users had received more than one type of support available in the Access to Work programme, as was often the case, (see Table B.7 in the appendices for support elements received at point of interview) they were asked about each type of support they had received. Employers were asked about likely outcomes in the absence of the programme in general (to keep the interview length within acceptable limits), but they were posed specific questions about the possibility and acceptability of the organisation paying for specific types of support. This was because of our interest in whether equality of opportunity for disabled people could have been obtained or sustained at less cost to the programme.

1.5.1 Outcomes in the Absence of Access to Work at Time of Application

A basic aim of the research was to assess deadweight in the programme. Would users have taken up or stayed in their job without the specific types of help they got from Access to Work? Would employers have taken them on or retained them if Access to Work were not available at the time? We asked these questions using the rating scale and explored the reasons behind the responses.

The problem with these questions is that they are too ’black and white’. People desperate to work and make a living and committed to their jobs may well have carried on without support - but with detrimental effects to their health or productivity. So we also asked them, with reference to the types of Access to Work support they received, to rate the likelihood of taking more sick leave and changing their hours of work, and explored other impacts of them carrying on without the help from Access to Work that they volunteered, such as effects on morale or health. We asked the

employer to rate answers to questions about the package of Access to Work support their employees received.

1.5.2 Alternatives to Access to Work

We also wanted to find out whether alternatives to Access to Work were possible at the time of application and at time of interview. If the programme were not available, could needs have been met in some other way? For example, instead of using support workers provided through Access to Work, could other people at work provide the help needed? Could people get lifts to work, rather than receive a

contribution towards the costs of taxis to work? Could the user or their employer have paid for the support? Respondents were asked to rate the possibility of alternatives on the scale, and then to explain their answers.

1.5.3 Acceptability of Alternatives

What is possible is not necessarily acceptable. We asked users to rate the acceptability of alternatives to Access to Work and to explain their answers. For example, while help might be available from other people at work, users may be unwilling to accept it - because doing so draws attention to their health problem or impairment, or causes bad relationships with co-workers. It might be possible to get a lift to work but doing so may make the user feel a burden to others and pose a

problem of reciprocating the help. While disabled people might be in a position to pay for the support, they may object to doing so on grounds of equity or because they believe it to be the employer’s duty.

Asking people to explain their ratings of the possibility and acceptability of alternatives shed light on the probable impact of carrying on without help from Access to Work. For example, using public transport instead of help with Travel to Work through Access to Work might lead to stress and fatigue which in turn could increase the likelihood of reduced performance at work and more sick leave.

1.5.4 The Difference Access to Work Makes

The next question area was about the difference the programme made to users and their employers. We wanted to give people the opportunity to volunteer positive effects, in contrast to the more negative line of questioning about the consequences of the absence of help from Access to Work. We did not apply the scale here.

1.5.5 Outcomes without Access to Work Now

The subsequent line of questioning asked users and their employers to rate the likely outcomes if Access to Work did not exist at the point of interview, and to explain their answers. Rating questions were similar to those asked in relation to the point of application, with some additional questions; for example, would employers envisage

an impact on the performance of their employee and of other staff if the user did not get help from Access to Work?

1.5.6 Overall Effects of Access to Work

Finally, users were asked to rate the overall effects of all the support they had obtained from Access to Work. They were asked to rate the likelihood of their being in their job in the absence of Access to Work. Employers were asked to rate the likelihood of the employee having to leave to the job if Access to Work were not available.