Social Security Charter Review: research findings - summary

Charter: Changes to commitments

All original Charter commitments have been retained in some form in the proposed new version.

Some new commitments have been proposed. These reflect the priorities described by clients, staff and partner organisations.

A key priority was to provide clients with more information on what they can expect from the social security system. New commitments have been added which outline the application journey.

Another priority was how the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland are held to account for delivering the Charter commitments. Changes have been included to provide more information about how performance and feedback are used to make improvements. Changes make it clearer how clients can raise issues if their rights aren’t met and provide views about their experience.

Communication was also a priority for clients, staff and partner organisations. Some changes have been proposed to make it clearer how clients’ communication needs are supported.

A final example of where changes have been made to reflect priorities is in the information about support for clients. This includes support to engage with Social Security Scotland as well as links with other forms of support that may help clients.