Social Security Experience Panels: agency buildings

Reasons for visiting an agency building

Social Security Scotland wants to ensure that visiting an agency building is as easy as possible for clients and that when they arrive, they are able to access the facilities and services they require.

To begin, we asked survey respondents if they would ever want to speak to Social Security Scotland in person. Over eight in ten respondents (85 per cent) said they would want to speak to Social Security Scotland in person, and over two thirds (67 per cent) told us they want want to visit an agency building at one point.

Around one in five respondents would always visit an agency building (21 per cent) or would always need a home visit (18 per cent), with just under half saying they would need both at different times (46 per cent).

Just over one in ten (14 per cent) told us they would never want to speak to the agency in person.

Table 7: Would you ever want to speak to the agency in person? (n=182)

	%
Yes – I would visit an agency office	21
Yes – I would need a home visit	18
Sometimes I would visit an agency office and sometimes I would need a home visit	46
No	14

To better understand the profile of clients who would want face to face contact, a series of chi-square tests were carried out.

A chi-square test of association revealed no significant associations between wanting any type of face to face contact^[9] and gender^[10]. There was also no significant associations with wanting any type of face to face contact and participant age^{[11], [12]}.

A further chi-square test of association revealed no significant differences between respondents in urban and rural areas, and their desire for face to face contact in some form^[13]. The lack of variance between respondents in urban and more remote locations suggests clients may have similar expectations as to the level and frequency of face to face contact available with the agency irrespective of their location, however further work is required to fully evaluate this claim.

We asked focus group participants why they would want to speak to the agency in person. Some participants said they found using the phone difficult, so a face to face appointment was preferable:

'I find using the phone very difficult, so a non-threatening face to face appointment can help sort things out.'

'As a person with hearing loss, I sometimes find it difficult to hear on the telephone. I am confident in completing forms and accessing information online, but sometimes I want more information and clarification.'

Some participants told us that they found face to face interactions more 'personal' or that they thought it was easier to talk about their issues in person:

'Face to face allows a personal view to be created.'

'One can tell one's story more effectively face to face, provided SSS [Social Security Scotland] staff have listening skills…'

Some participants felt that doing things face to face meant they were more likely to get a faster service or that applications would be 'right first time' as an employee was there to check it for them:

'Much easier to get help face to face rather than trying to do it yourself. Saves time getting your application approved if all the information is correct from the start.'

A recurring theme was that a face to face appointment offered more than doing something online – for example, participants suggested a face to face appointment could offer additional assistance, signposting to other services, document checking and the added re-assurance that nothing would go wrong:

'People need the re-assurance of a face to face appointment…'

However not all participants were keen on face to face appointments. Some participants told us that they would only come into an office when absolutely necessary, as they found travelling difficult, did not like being in public places, or just preferred doing things online:

'I would only require it if absolutely necessary, like for an assessment. Personally I prefer online or email contact.'

'I would prefer not to do face to face as I don't have enough energy for social interactions with strangers…'

For participants who lived in rural and remote locations, the time spent travelling to an office was often too much to deal with:

'I live on an island and it is not always possible for me to travel to an office.'

In these circumstances, some participants told us they would prefer home visits rather than visiting an agency building, or to just do everything by phone or online.

We wanted to find out the reasons particpants would visit an agency building, so we asked them what tasks they would like to do in person.

Around three quarters of survey respondents said they would contact the agency in person to get advice on their eligiblity for certain benefits (75 per cent) or to make a benefit application (73 per cent). Almost seven in ten would want help with an application (68 per cent) and just under two thirds would want to get information about other support and services available (61 per cent).

Less than half of survey respondents (46 per cent) would contact the agency in person to check the status of an existing application.

Table 8: Reasons for face to face contact (n=105-138)

	%
Advice on eligibility	75
To make an application	73
To get help with an application	68
To get information about other support and services	61
To make a complaint or provide feedback	57
To check the status of my application	46

A number of significant associations were observed between respondents' age and their reasons for wanting face to face contact, particularly in relation to seeking information (for example, information about support organisations or eligibility). Respondents aged over 60 tended to say they wanted to get this information face to face, with respondents aged under 60 less likely to want this.

A chi-square test of association revealed a significant association between age and desire to get information on other services or support groups through face to face contact^[14]. Almost eight in ten respondents aged 60 and over said they would want to get advice on other services and support available to them at an agency building. Less than half of respondents aged under 60 (46 per cent) said they would want to do this.

Another chi-square test of association revealed a significant association between age and desire to get information on eligibility through face-to-face contact^[15]. Over a third of respondents aged under 60 (34 per cent) would not want to get face to face advice on benefits, where as only 15 per cent of people aged 60 and over would not want this.

That an association between age and the reasons for face to face exists for only a few reasons suggests that further work is needed to determine whether there is a substantive difference between client age groups and their reasons for face to face contact.