Public appointment: Chair and Member appointed to the Scottish Commission on Social Security Board

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice today announced the appointment of Ed Pybus as Chair and Adam Bennett as Member of the Scottish Commission on Social Security Board.

Chair

Ed Pybus has been providing expert advice on social security for almost two decades. He began as a volunteer at Portobello Citizens Advice Bureau before working at bureaux in Fife and Skye and Lochalsh. He's worked as a welfare rights worker at Child Poverty Action Group, providing expert advice and training and was one of the authors of CPAG's Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits handbook. He's provided expert advice to the Scottish Government as a member of the Disability and Carer's Benefits Expert Advisory Group, the Minimum Income Guarantee Steering group and the Affordable Housing working group. He is currently an independent policy consultant with an interest in social security as well as poverty, housing, childcare, environmental justice, and community ownership. He and his family are tenants on a woodland croft in Argyll.

Member

Adam Bennett is the Founder and CEO of ProjectChange, an organisation dedicated to empowering people with lived experience to lead changes in Scotland's care system. He brings a wealth of expertise in advocacy, policy development, and strategic leadership. Adam served as Co-Chair of the Independent Care Review, leading on the Health and Wellbeing workstream and helping to develop the Independent Care Review’s recommendations and the subsequent The Promise report. He has also been a guest lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and served as a Board Member for Scouts Scotland. Currently, he is a Consultant for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), advising on integrating lived experiences of poverty into organisational strategies, and a Trustee of Young Scot, supporting youth development and engagement at a national level.

Appointment

These appointments will be for 4 years and will run from 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2028.

These appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration

Ed Pybus’s appointment is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £306 for a time commitment of 60 days per annum.

Adam Bennett’s appointment is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £225 for a time commitment of 36 days per annum.

Other ministerial appointments

Ed Pybus is a Member of the Forestry & Land Scotland Community Asset Transfer Scheme Board, for which he receives remuneration of £250 per day, for a time commitment of up to 4 days per annum.

Adam Bennett does not hold any other public appointments.

Political activity

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.  However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.   

Ed Pybus and Adam Bennett have had no political activity within the last five years.

Background

Scottish Commission on Social Security is an independent body and is separate to Social Security Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government which is responsible for delivering social security payments in Scotland.

The Act defines the role of SCoSS in providing independent scrutiny of the devolved social security system, with functions to:

• Provide independent expert scrutiny of draft social security regulations, including preparing and publishing reports and making recommendations on these regulations to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament.
• Prepare reports on how the expectations of the Social Security Charter are being met and make recommendations for improvement. These reports are also published and submitted to the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.
• Report on any matter relevant to social security at the request of the Scottish Government or Scottish Parliament.

In carrying out all its functions, SCoSS has regard to the social security principles set out in the Act. This means that SCoSS plays an important role in ensuring that these principles, which are at the heart of the devolved system of social security, are applied in practice.

SCoSS has already produced many detailed and wide-ranging reports on regulations covering most of the devolved social security benefits introduced since 2018, including Young Carers Grant, Scottish Child Payment, Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment. Most of the recommendations in these reports have been accepted by the Scottish Government and have therefore led to significant improvements to legislation.