Social Security Scotland Recruitment plans and employment contracts: FOI release

Information requested

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice recently said of Social Security Scotland’s recruitment: “The updatedrecruitment plans take account of the seasonal peaks in benefit delivery and the additional staff who are required to deliver pension-age disability payment”

Request for information 1: A copy of the updated recruitment plans that the Cabinet Secretary refers to. Please provide bullet points of all updated aspects of the plan.

Request for information 2: A list of all kinds of employment contracts Social Security Scotland use for staff. In other words, please specify all types of contracts. For example if some vary in terms of duration e.g some contracts are full time and permanent; full time and temporary; part time and permanent; part time and temporary. Please provide the number of current employees who are on each type of contract.

Request for information 3: Confirmation that Social Security Scotland does not currently employ any worker on zero hour contracts (sometimes known as casual contracts) and that it never has. If Social Security Scotland does employ any worker on a zero-hour contract then please provide the number of workers who have been on one.

Request for information 4: Please provide the “seasonal peaks” that the Cabinet Secretary referred. Please specifically provide the dates of those peaks.

Response

Request for information 1:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

The recruitment plans referred to by the Cabinet Secretary on 12 September were a review and reprofile of recruitment in Social Security Scotland. This was a result of an analysis undertaken within a specific period of time from live data. This information is no longer held as the data assessed has now moved on from when this assessment took place in June.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

Request for information 2:

Staff in Post end of August 2024
Employment Type	FTE	Headcount
Agency Workers	78.0	78
Contingent Workers	84.0	84
Directly employed	3836.2	4023
Directly employed (Temporary) - Fixed Term appointments	60.5	63
Grand Total	4058.7	4248

	Headcount
Working Pattern	Full-Time	Part-Time
Agency Workers	78	0
Directly employed	3340	683
Directly employed (Temporary) - Fixed Term appointments	55	8

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have some of the information you have requested. This is because contingent colleagues log their working pattern through Providers as they are not directly employed by Social Security Scotland.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

Request for information 3:

Social Security Scotland have no employees, workers through contracted frameworks, or inward secondees who have contracts with minimum hours per week listed as zero and never has.
Request for information 4:

The seasonal peaks referenced by the Cabinet Secretary are related to Child Winter Heating Payment and Winter Heating Payment.

Benefits with seasonality	Seasonal Peak
Child Winter Heating Payment	October
Winter Heating Payment	December to February

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.