Social Security Experience Panels: agency buildings

Facilities of agency buildings

Social Security Scotland wants to make sure clients feel welcome and comfortable in agency buildings. As part of this, a range of facilities may be offered to clients who visit. This may include refreshments, guidance on other support available, computer and internet access and public telephones.

We heard from focus group participants that offering good facilities would improve their perception of the agency and would make the system feel more 'humane'.

'People should feel safe and comfortable. Decent facilities would make the system more humane and less of an ordeal.'

In order to understand the faciltiies clients expected of agency buildings, we asked survey participants what facilities they would find useful.

Almost nine in ten survey respondents (89 per cent) said they would find accessible toilets useful, and six in ten (60 per cent) said they would like a changing places toilet. Less than a third of respondents wanted baby changing facilities (28 per cent) or a gender neutral toilet (24 per cent).

Table 10: Facilities respondents would find useful – toilets and changing facilities (n=107-145)

Facility	%
Accessible toilets	89
A changing places toilet (i.e. changing facilities for disabled people)[17]	60
Baby changing facilities	28
A gender neutral toilet	24

Participants told us that the toilets should be clearly signposted and there should be sufficient numbers of disabled toilets.

Survey respondents were also asked what waiting facilities they would find useful. Almost eight in ten (77 per cent) told us they would like leaflets and information on what other support services were available.

Over three quarters (76 per cent) wanted a suitable area for their helper, carer, advocate or family member and over two thirds (68 per cent) wanted a ticket queuing system. Just over half wanted something to do whilst waiting (56 per cent) and a soft seating area (55 per cent).

Table 11: Facilities respondents would find useful – waiting (n=107-145)

Facility	%
Leaflets and information on support services	77
A suitable waiting area for my helper, carer, advocate or family member	76
A ticket queuing system	68
Something to do whilst waiting (e.g. magazines)	56
A soft seating area	55

Focus group participants also told us that they expected a quiet, comfortable waiting area.

'A quiet room to wait in, not too bright, not too warm, no radio or music playing in the waiting room.'

Some focus group participants also told us that they would find a separate quiet room useful.

'I know people who don't like it when a space is open, don't like the noise. Doesn't need to be bigger than a disabled toilet, just them and a person and security such as a panic button.'

We also asked respondents what other facilities they would find useful, such as refreshment areas and access to a computer or public phone.

The most popular was private interview rooms, with nine in ten respondents (90 per cent) saying they would like this. Over two thirds of respondents (67 per cent) said they would like a refreshment area to get tea, coffee or water and over a third said they would like access to a computer (42 per cent) or a public phone (39 per cent). Just over one in four said they would like an area for their children to play (26 per cent).

Table 12: Facilities respondents would find useful – interior (n=107-145)

Facility	%
Private interview rooms	90
A refreshment area	67
An area for my children to play	26
A computer terminal	42
A public phone	39

Participants told us that facilities such as refreshments could potentially help keep clients calm in potentially stressful situations:

'I feel it needs food and drink because you are already walking into a stressful situation. For a lot of people, eating and drinking is a way to calm their nerves. Having just a little bit here or there could be helpful.'

When thinking about facilities for children, some participants felt this was not the agency's job and that the parents of the children should bring toys for them. Other participants voiced concerns that having play areas for children would create too much noise:

'Unfortunately, and I hate to say this, but I find having an open plan office can be very distracting, and having kids play and cry and scream is also very distracting.'

Some participants disagreed, and felt that a small area to occupy children whilst their parents were talking would be a good idea:

'Children…people often bring them to JobCentres. There are no facilities to amuse them. There should at least be a toy corner or books…'

A few participants suggested other facilities that were not listed in the survey. These included:

• Places for service animals to wait;
• An area within sight of the car park for people leaving the building to wait for taxis in shelter;
• Automatic doors;
• A visual and audible ticketing system; and
• Proper heating in winter, and air conditioning in summer.

In general, there was little difference in expectations for facilities based on participant location. Almost all respondents from rural areas said a car park was important (96 per cent) however just over four in five respondents in urban areas expected one (83 per cent). A chi-square test of association on this variable suggested the association was not significant^[18].