SCoSS Charter Sub-Committee Meeting

Date: 19 January 2026
Time: 11:00
Venue: Virtual (Microsoft Teams)

Minutes

Present—

  • Dr Mark Simpson (Chair)
  • Dr Marilyn Howard (Member)
  • Ed Pybus (Member)

Apologies: None

In attendance (SCoSS Secretariat)—

  • Andrew Strong (Head of Policy and Scrutiny, SCoSS Secretariat);
  • Stephen Herbert (Secretary, SCoSS Secretariat);
  • Christopher Galloway (Analysis and Participation Support Officer, SCoSS Secretariat);
  • Lisa Kinnear (Governance and Engagement Officer, SCoSS Secretariat)

In attendance for agenda items 3 –

  • Molly Rosenbaum (Senior Consultation Analyst, The Lines Between);
  • Carole Kelly (Senior Consultation Analyst, The Lines Between);
  • Alastair Graham (Research Manager, The Lines Between)

    Apologies: None

    1. Welcome and declaration of interests

    The Chair, Mark, welcomed the Members to the first meeting of the SCoSS Charter research sub-committee in 2026.

    No interests were declared.

    2. Matters arising from previous meeting

    Members agreed the December Charter subcommittee meeting minutes, which will be considered at the next Board meeting for approval before being published on the SCoSS website.

    3. Charter research contracts update

    Molly Rosenbaum, Carole Kelly and Alastair Graham from The Lines Between joined the meeting for this item to provide the subcommittee with an update on research progress to date.

    Molly delivered a presentation and provided an overview of project progress, including work completed so far and the methods and tools being used across both research projects, the experiences of people for whom English is not their first language, and processes relating to Adult Disability Payment determinations, redeterminations, and Short-term Assistance.

    Members and The Lines Between discussed the stakeholder list and agreed that it would be useful to make stakeholders aware of the work underway and The Lines Between’s involvement.

    4. Social Security Scotland – future engagement

    Members noted that Ed Pybus was due to meet with David Wallace of Social Security Scotland. Members noted that part of the discussion was due to focus on SCoSS’s charter research on the experiences of people with communication needs.

    Andrew noted that Iain Davidson of Social Security Scotland is expected to attend the next Charter Subcommittee meeting, to discuss possible areas of future Charter research.

    The Subcommittee noted that it wished to record its appreciation for Social Security Scotland’s support for SCoSS’s charter work, and that this would be relayed to David Wallace.

    Action: Members were invited to share any further points of discussion ahead of the meetings with Social Security Scotland.

    5. Any other business

    Members agreed that the next meeting of the Charter Subcommittee would be held on 18 February 2026.

    Next meeting: 18 February 2026

    Meeting closed at: 12:07

    Back to top Skip to content