Examining outcomes associated with Social Security Scotland spending: an evidence synthesis

8. Annex B – Ongoing and future evaluation plans

Take up

• Annual update - Estimated take up rates and strategy progress update published annually. Date tbc, Q4 2024.
• Participatory research currently underway - Partnership with the Poverty Alliance to identify impacts of stigma on benefit take up and ways of tackling this.
• Updating our knowledge of who are the seldom heard voices - Independent evidence review and secondary data analysis to confirm the identities of the current seldom heard groups as they may have changed over the last 5 years. The research will provide a robust analytical understanding of which groups are seldom heard. Findings will inform a targeted marketing strategy for devolved benefits.

Five Family Payments

• Evaluation planned for 2024-25 - Will assess medium-term impact in more depth using (tbc) quantitative data from a large scale survey to produce generalisable findings. To publish in 2025.
• Longitudinal research: Timing tbc - There are plans to commission longitudinal qualitative interviews with people who have received payments for 12 months or more; delivered in 2 waves.

Scottish Child Payment

• Estimating the effect on child poverty - An update to this modelling result was included in the published Cumulative Impact Assessment alongside the BSBF progress report in Summer 2023.
• Evaluation 2024 - The MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit and Public Health Scotland are working on an evaluability assessment of the SCP, supported by SG, to be completed 2023-24. Its primary output will be describing a set of options for future evaluation, with a view to conducting evaluation work when resources can be secured to take this forward.

Disability benefits

Accessible Vehicles and Equipment scheme

• Accessible Vehicles and Equipment scheme - Underway
• Process of moving from CDP to ADP - Underway
• Evaluation programme on the devolution of disability benefits will run through to 2025-26 - Underway
• Also planned:
  • Special Rules for Terminal Illness
  • Case Transfer follow up
  • Duration of awards and reviews
  • Overall decision making, including client consultations

Adult Disability Payment

• Independent Review: planned to begin early 2024 - The independent review will consider people’s experiences of applying for, receiving or challenging decisions about entitlement to ADP. The independent review will consider the appropriateness of the eligibility criteria, guidance and consultations. The Chair of the review will draw on existing analysis and research and consider the need for new evidence.

Carer benefits (Carer Support Payment, Carer’s Allowance Supplement and Young Carer Grant)

• Various stages - The evaluation programme for carer support payment is currently being scoped, with a view to looking at short, medium and long term carer benefit outcomes in the round. The Carer’s Allowance Supplement will be incorporated into Carer Support Payment following the completion of case transfer from Carer’s Allowance. Consideration is also being given to incorporating the further planned evaluation of Young Carer Grant into the Carer Support Payment evaluation programme as part of the scoping exercise.

Funeral Support Payment

• No further evaluation committed to - There remains a commitment to review evaluation plans as policies change and/or new considerations arise

Job Start Payment

• No further evaluation committed to - There remains a commitment to review evaluation plans as policies change and/or new considerations arise

Person centred approaches

Child Poverty Pathfinders

• Ongoing evaluation: will include metrics on poverty and increases to Income - The two child poverty pathfinder projects aim to provide a whole systems approach to tacking child poverty. The Glasgow pathfinder for example offers a benefits maximisation services to families.

Bring services to people

Welfare rights advisors in GP practices

• Test and learn phase to be completed in 2024 - A robust evaluation will follow including metrics on service user financial gain and impact on deprivation and poverty.

Social Security (Scotland) Act (2018)

Devolved Social Security Assistance, Uprating for Inflation

• Later in 2023-24 - A report in fulfilment of section 86A: Duty to consider effects of inflation. Will include publication of a multi criteria decision analysis of uprating options available to SG (in line with Green Book guidance).

Data linkage

• Scoping work - Public Health Scotland and Social Security Scotland are currently scoping the possibility of sharing and linking data to support research and evaluation into the links between receipt of benefits and health outcomes.

Use of population surveys

• TBC - The original devolved benefits evaluation plan^[84] mentions future plans to use survey data to measure long term outcomes and this continues to be pursued. There are requests in with the Chief Statistician/Data officer who are co-ordinating data requests with DWP and HMRC