Consumers in Vulnerable Circumstances Research

Consumer Scotland wishes to commission a single supplier to deliver two to four social research projects per year relating to the experiences of consumers a range of different vulnerable circumstances in Scotland. The contract may also be used to provide support with Consumer Scotland’s other engagement activities with consumers in vulnerable circumstances such as organising and facilitating lived experience input to a specific activity such as a workshop.

Lived experience is central to all these requirements and ensuring that consumers from a range of different experiences can participate effectively in any research or other activities will be essential. The contractor must work collaboratively with Consumer Scotland, stakeholders and consumers with lived experience to ensure this and have experience of participatory action research.

The objectives of the contract are to:

a. Work collaboratively with Consumer Scotland, stakeholders and consumers with lived experience to design, deliver, analyse and report on specific research projects focused on the experiences of consumers living in vulnerable circumstances in Scotland

b. Ensure that the research is designed and delivered taking account of the lived experience of consumers in a range of vulnerable circumstances.

c. Increase understanding of current experiences of consumers living in vulnerable circumstances in Scotland

d. Help identify appropriate policy interventions and responses to any issues identified by the research.

While the specific projects are still being scoped and developed the projects set out below provide an indicative guide to the research projects that we may want to commission as part of this contract in 2024/2025:

• Qualitative research focusing on the experiences of disabled consumers and consumers living with health conditions living in rural and island communities in Scotland across a range of markets.
• Qualitative research identifying how consumers with no fixed address access postal services and the impact this has and exploring how this issue could be addressed
• Qualitative research examining the impact of the costs of energy on consumers in vulnerable circumstances who are at greater risk of harm. In 2023/2024 we completed some initial work on the impact of energy costs on disabled consumers and consumers with health conditions. As well as building on this work, we are currently exploring whether to extend this work to other consumer groups in vulnerable circumstances where they may be similar issues such as Prepayment Meter customers or other low income groups. Additional information: The initial contract will be for a period of one year with further option to extend by a further two x one year periods, to a maximum of three years.