SCoSS Charter Sub-Committee Meeting

Date: 13 May 2026
Time: 10:30
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);
  • Christopher Galloway (Analysis and Participation Support Officer, SCoSS Secretariat);
  • Keith Rae (Senior Policy Manager, SCoSS Secretariat)

    Apologies: None

    1. Welcome and declaration of interests

    The Chair, Mark, welcomed the Members to the fifth meeting of the SCoSS Charter research sub-committee in 2026. No interests were declared.

    2. Matters arising from previous meeting

    Members agreed the April Charter sub-committee meeting minutes, which will be presented at the next Board meeting for approval before being published on the SCoSS website.

    3. Charter research reports – recommendations

    Members considered recommendations arising from two recently commissioned research reports by The Lines Between regarding people whose first language is not English, and decision-making for Adult Disability Payment. It was agreed that all of the feedback received from The Lines Between would provide a useful basis for informing future engagement, identifying potential areas for further research and shaping any future SCoSS response to the reports.

    Members also identified a number of areas where additional information arising from the reports may be helpful before determining how SCoSS will formally respond to Social Security Scotland.

    The Secretariat agreed to take forward actions to support future engagement and information-gathering in these areas.

    4. Charter research – project plans

    The Secretariat provided an update on the development of project plans relating to publication and response to commissioned research. It was noted that the proposed approach had been revised since the previous meeting to enable timely publication of the research reports, alongside engagement with relevant officials prior to publication.

    Members agreed on the importance of clearly distinguishing the commissioned research from any subsequent SCoSS response and discussed options for presenting the reports on the SCoSS website. The Secretariat agreed to consider how best to publish the reports.

    Members also discussed plans for stakeholder engagement following publication of the reports. It was suggested that stakeholder discussions and presentations could help inform the development of SCoSS’s responses to the research findings.

    5. Future charter research projects

    The Secretariat updated Members on plans to host an online stakeholder engagement session to gather views on issues arising from claimants’ experiences of the social security system, with the aim of informing areas of future SCoSS research.

    A number of stakeholders had been invited to participate and initial responses on attendance was positive. Proposed dates had been identified for the session, which was expected to take place during the week commencing 15 June 2026.

    6. Any other business

    Members agreed that the date of the next Charter Subcommittee meeting would be confirmed by email.

    Next meeting: TBC (subsequently confirmed as 22 July)

    Meeting closed at: 12:13

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