Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 2019-20

I am proud to present the first annual report and accounts for the Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS), covering the financial year 2019-2020.

SCoSS was established under section 21 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 as a ‘body corporate’. Its Board has four members including a Chair. It opened for business on the 8th of February 2019. The period covered by this report therefore overlaps with SCoSS’s first year of operations, during which it was necessary both to put in place systems and processes, as well as rapidly to start delivering our statutory functions.

SCoSS is a small body with a comparatively small budget. Nevertheless, it is important to explain how that public money is being used and to demonstrate that we are spending it wisely. We believe that this report clearly shows how SCoSS made a difference in its first full year of operation. The SCoSS Board is committed to ongoing improvement so that we can continue to deliver change where it matters most: to benefit the very many people in Scotland who receive devolved social security assistance.

The SCoSS Board has reviewed this report and is satisfied that it provides an accurate account of its work and finances over the period.

Sally Witcher, Chair of the SCoSS Board