Background

SCoSS has a responsibility to report on the Social Security Charter to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament on whether the expectations in the Social Security Charter are being met. The Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland published the Social Security Charter in January 2019 and it was revised in February 2024.

More information on the Charter can be found here: ‘Our Charter‘.

The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 required the Scottish Government to create Our Charter.

The purpose of Our Charter is to set out what people should expect from the new social security system, which we will administer. It explains in clearer terms how we will uphold the Principles in the Act , how we will make sure that we are taking a human rights based approach to what we do and how we will demonstrate dignity, fairness and respect in all our actions.

As with everything in this new system, Our Charter was created with people and not for them.

We have also proactively produced this in a range of accessible formats including video with British Sign Language, audio, large print, Easy Read, which are linked to below.

Information about our performance against the commitments within the Charter will be available from the annual Charter Measurement Framework reports.

More information about the Framework can be accessed on the Scottish Government website.

Here are the Charter Measurement Framework publications to date:

• Measuring Our Charter: 2023-2024
• Measuring Our Charter: 2022-2023
• Measuring Our Charter: 2021-2022
• Measuring Our Charter: 2020-2021
• Charter Measurement Framework: 2019-2020

We’re here to help you get everything you’re entitled to.

Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government will:

1. Be patient, kind and consider how you might be feeling.
2. Listen to you, trust you and treat you as an individual.
3. Support your wellbeing and make your contact with us as positive and stress-free as possible using a trauma-informed approach.
4. Treat everyone equally, fairly and without discrimination.
5. Be knowledgeable about Scottish social security and help you get answers if they do not know.

We’ll achieve this by:

1. Including requirements in our recruitment processes to make sure we recruit people who care about delivering a service based on dignity, fairness and respect.
2. Building a workforce that reflects the diversity of people in Scotland.
3. Making sure colleagues are trained, supported and well-equipped to do their jobs in line with our values.
4. Providing learning to ensure colleagues understand the needs of different people and the barriers they face – so that no-one experiences discrimination because of who they are.
5. Involving people with diverse lived experiences of social security, and the organisations that represent them, in training our colleagues

We’ll design services with the people who use them.

Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government will do this by:

1. Supporting you to complete an application in a way that suits you. For example, online, over the phone, or in person if requested.
2. Letting you know that we have received your application and what you can expect to happen next.
3. Working with you to gather any supporting information we need so that your application can be processed as quickly as possible. This includes being clear about the supporting information we need and gathering it for you if you ask us to do so.
4. Introducing ways to update you on the progress of your application and expected timelines, including if things might take a bit longer.
5. Contacting you to help clarify information in your application. Making decisions based on your application and supporting information where required.
6. Having a team of decision makers who will review the information provided in your application and supporting information. They will work closely with our in-house qualified Health and Social Care team as needed.
7. Only carrying out a consultation for disability benefits when we’re not able to make a decision based on the information that is already available or if you request one.
8. Making sure that when consultations are needed, they are carried out by our qualified Health and Social Care team who understand your condition and the impact it’s having on you.
9. Ensuring consultations are carried out in a way that puts your wellbeing first, including offering a consultation over the phone or in person at a place that suits you.
10. Providing information to help answer any questions you may have along the way and responding to enquiries as quickly as we can.

We’ll encourage feedback and work to deliver the best service possible

Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government will improve services by:

1. Making communications, processes and systems as simple and clear as possible by testing them with the people who use them.
2. Encouraging you to provide feedback, explain how you can complain and do everything we can to make things right.
3. Listening, learning and improving by valuing feedback, complaints and appeal decisions.
4. Carrying out regular research with clients to hear about their experiences and work with them to make improvements to our services. This includes a survey that goes to all clients.
5. Involving people using the service in measuring how well it works – including the commitments in Our Charter.

We’re investing in the people of Scotland – making a positive difference to all our lives.

The Scottish Government will:

1. Embed the social security principles and Our Charter in how we make policy.
2. Involve people with diverse lived experiences of social security in developing policy.
3. Develop policy that supports equality, non-discrimination and the human right to social security as defined in laws, treaties and guidance.