Business Plan 2022-2023

Below we set out our key priorities for the operating year 2022-23.

Scrutinising regulations:

• Scrutinise and report on draft regulations referred to SCoSS by Scottish Ministers within agreed timescales, including, for example, on Low Income Winter Heating Assistance.
• Monitor the impact of our legislative scrutiny.

Lived experience/charter

• Carry out our first report on the Social Security Charter, focusing on section 4 of the Charter, titled “A Better Future”, paying particular attention to the views of those with lived experience of the devolved benefits system, and make recommendations to the Scottish Government for improvement. Meanwhile, we will begin consideration of SCoSS’s role in the Scottish Government’s 2024 review of the Charter.

Communications & Engagement

• Begin work on reviewing and developing our stakeholder engagement strategy to enrich, inform and add value to our pre-legislative scrutiny and work on the Charter.
• Engage with stakeholders to enhance our lived experience work.
• Focus on building and maintaining strong relationships with Scottish Government Ministers, the Social Justice and Social Security Committee and Social Security Scotland.
• Launch our new website and ensure that it provides full access to all our reports and minutes and is accessible for people with communication barriers.
• We will regularly link to the website from social media to promote engagement and awareness of our work.

Governance and Assurance

• Engage fully with and respond to the review which the Scottish Government is commissioning of SCoSS’s remit, role and constitution. This review marks three years of SCoSS’s operation to date. It will be a significant opportunity to draw on learning to build on the important contribution made by SCoSS to date towards the establishment of the new devolved social security system.
• The newly created audit advisor role will support and advise the SCoSS board and secretariat with governance and audit-related work including a review of governance documentation and continuous improvement.
• Board recruitment will further strengthen the expertise and capacity of SCoSS. We will keep the resilience of the Board under review.
• We will keep secretariat capability under review – and will ensure that increased capacity within the secretariat is deployed to best support the Board to meet its statutory obligations and wider ambitions.

By the end of this reporting year our objective is to have resilient Secretariat resourcing in place that is fit for both present and future needs.