Social Security Charter measurement framework: co-design process

1. Introduction

The Scottish Government is getting new powers to deliver some social security benefits. Provision for delivering these benefits is set out in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018^[3]. These benefits are gradually being rolled out and delivered by Social Security Scotland (the Agency).

As a requirement of the Act, a Charter, detailing what the people of Scotland can expect from the new system, was co-designed by people with experience of social security, professionals who represent the interests of, and work on behalf of, social security clients (stakeholders) and the Scottish Government. Called ‘Our Charter’,
it reflects a human rights approach to social security and is available in multiple formats on the Social Security Scotland website^[4]. It is set out as a series of ‘commitments’ which will be delivered by Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government. A research report - ‘Developing the Scottish Social Security Charter – Co-design in action’ - details how Our Charter was produced^[5].

In the same way as Our Charter was co-designed, a Charter Measurement Framework to openly and robustly measure the extent to which the commitments are met was developed. This co-design process will make sure that the measurement system is directly informed by first-hand experience of the social security system, and also reflects the priorities of other groups invested in social security in Scotland.

This report was written by the Scottish Government researchers who led this work and describes the process of co-designing the Charter Measurement Framework, detailing:

• who took part in making the framework, and what they did
• the work and processes that went into deciding how to measure the commitments in the Charter
• the content and design of the Measurement Framework
• the data requirements of the framework and how they will be met