SCoSS Charter Sub-Committee Meeting
Date: 22 October 2024
Time: 10:00
Venue: Microsoft Teams
Minutes
Present—
- Dr Marilyn Howard (Chair)
- Dr Mark Simpson (Member)
- Ed Pybus (Observer)
Apologies: None
In attendance (SCoSS Secretariat)—
- Andrew Strong, Head of Policy and Scrutiny
- Christopher Galloway, Analysis and Participation Support Officer
1. Welcome
The Chair, Mark Simpson, welcomed the attendees to the fourth meeting of the Charter Sub-Committee. There were no apologies and no interests were declared.
2. Matters arising from previous meeting
Following their interview with SCoSS in September, VoiceAbility provided contact details for an advocacy partner and shared a copy of their ADP review response, as agreed.
Action: The Secretariat will arrange and lead an interview with the advocacy partner and distribute VoiceAbility’s response to the ADP review to members.
3. Focus groups and structured interviews – further reflections
Members and the Secretariat shared their insights on the findings from SCoSS’s focus groups and structured interviews.
Further engagement with Social Security Scotland would be beneficial, and members proposed that this be arranged soon in order to share initial findings and encourage written feedback to be included in the final report which will help to inform recommendations.
While considering potential human rights implications of SCoSS’s findings, Members agreed that further engagement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Scottish Human Rights Commission would be appropriate for further investigation.
Action: Secretariat will contact Social Security Scotland to arrange a meeting to share key findings, and arrange the attendance of Local Delivery colleagues at this meeting.
Action: Secretariat will arrange meetings with the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission to discuss the equality and human rights implications of SCoSS’s findings.
4. Update on data analysis
Andrew provided an overview of the key findings from the focus groups and structured interviews, highlighting overarching themes. He confirmed that the next stage will involve drafting the report based on these insights.
Marilyn presented options for the proposed structure of the report, focusing on organising around specific themes or Charter commitments, which led to a discussion on the best approach.
It was agreed that the Sub-Committee and Secretariat would prepare a draft of the report as a starting point and present it at the next Sub-Committee meeting, with the report organised under themes, with reference to relevant charter commitments under each.
Action: The Secretariat to arrange a further meeting with Marilyn to discuss progress on drafting of the report within the proposed structure.
5. Board Update for 31 October
In preparation for the SCoSS Board meeting on 31 October, Members agreed to provide an update on the progress of Charter research, including the focus groups and structured interviews conducted by the Sub-Committee. This will be supported by a written update from the Secretariat.
6. Any other business
Members discussed the potential promotion of the final report and its findings upon publication. It was agreed that this topic would be addressed at a future Sub-Committee meeting.
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Sub-Committee meeting would take place on Thursday 14 November at 10am.
Meeting closed at 11:15
Date of next meeting: Thursday 14th November (10:00 – 11:30)