Annual Report for year ended 2025-26

The Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS) is an independent public body established by the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (‘the 2018 Act’). It provides expert advice to Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament on devolved social security matters.

The 2018 Act sets out the functions of SCoSS which can be summarised as follows—

1. SCoSS must be consulted by the Scottish Government on most regulations about social security assistance made under the 2018 Act. SCoSS scrutinises and reports on draft regulations. The Scottish Government may change its regulations after considering SCoSS’s recommendations. When it lays the regulations in the Scottish Parliament, it must publish its response to SCoSS’s report at the same time. The Scottish Parliament’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee then scrutinises the regulations and may take evidence from SCoSS members when it does so.
2. SCoSS must report, from time to time, to Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament on whether the expectations in the Scottish Social Security Charter (‘Our Charter’) are being met and make recommendations for improvement if they are not. It must consider reporting if it receives evidence that the Charter expectations are frequently not being fulfilled.
3. In addition, Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament can ask SCoSS to report on any matter relevant to social security.

In undertaking its statutory duties, SCoSS takes full account of the social security principles contained within the 2018 Act and of relevant human rights obligations as defined by the 2018 Act.

SCoSS Board members are non-executive public appointments made by the Scottish Ministers in line with the Code of Practice for Ministerial Public Appointments in Scotland. The 2018 Act allows up to five Commissioners to be appointed. The Chair is responsible for providing leadership to ensure that the Board delivers its functions efficiently and effectively. The Chair is also accountable to the Scottish Ministers. The role of Board members is to provide direction, support and guidance to ensure that SCoSS delivers its functions effectively and efficiently, in accordance with the 2018 Act. SCoSS members are appointed for four year terms. Members may devote up to 36 days a year to perform their functions, apart from the Chair, who may devote up to 60 days per annum. SCoSS is supported by a secretariat employed by the Scottish Government.

In 2025-26, all Board meetings were conducted virtually with the exception of the June Board meeting which was held at the Scottish Government building at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh. To ensure that all Commission decision-making and proceedings are transparent, the minutes of all formal SCoSS Board and Sub-Committee meetings are published on the SCoSS website. All SCoSS scrutiny reports and corporate documents are also available on the SCoSS website.

Currently the Board consists of five members, including the Chair.  The members of the Commission are—

• Ed Pybus, Chair, Independent Policy Consultant on social security as well as poverty, housing, childcare, environmental justice, and community ownership.
• Adam Bennett, Commissioner, Founder and CEO of ProjectChange, an organisation dedicated to empowering people with lived experience to lead changes in Scotland’s care system.
• Dr Marilyn Howard, Commissioner, writes on social security and is a member of the Policy Advisory Group of the UK Women’s Budget Group.
• Judith Paterson, Commissioner, Head of Advice and Rights (Scotland) for Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland (CPAG).
• Dr Mark Simpson, Commissioner, Senior Lecturer in Law at Ulster University, researching social security and human rights.