Social Security Experience Panels - About Your Benefits and You: quantitative research findings

Annex B: Report sent to Social Security Experience Panels members on the membership demographics up to 12 May 2017

Experience Panels

Have your say - What we know about the people who signed up to the Experience Panels

Thanks for signing up for the Social Security Experience Panels. This is what you told us about yourselves. It gives information on everyone who signed up by the 12 ^th May:

• Where you all live in the country
• What benefits you all have experience of
• How you would all like to be contacted
• What your support needs are

We have created two versions of this leaflet:

• an Easy Read version of this, and
• a version with simple formatting and no graphics.

We know this from the information you gave us when you applied to join. We have made sure the information does not identify you personally but wanted you to know what we have found out so far.

This leaflet is being sent out to all of the people that have joined the Experience Panels, along with a letter from the Scottish Social Security Minister, Ms Jeane Freeman MSP.

We welcome any comments and suggestions about how both versions of this leaflet could be improved.

Recruitment has been extended, and will now end on the 9 ^th June 2017. We will be doing more work on the information you have given us and will keep you up to date about what we find out.

Experience Panels

Analysis - Easy Read Version

Experience Panels

Analysis - Simple version

How many people signed up to the Experience Panels

Recruitment to the Experience Panels opened on the 3 ^rd March 2017 for 10 weeks. By 12 ^th May 2017, 2335 people had joined.

How do Experience Panel members want to be contacted?

• 85% of you said by email
• 57% of you said by post
• 37% of you said by text
• 26% of you said by mobile
• 18% of you said by home phone.

What support needs Panel members have?

• 63% of you said support getting to a venue/support in a venue
• 23% of you said easy read
• 19% of you said support to complete things by phone or in person
• 14% of you said large print.

Where do Experience Panel members live?

Local Authority	Number of people
Aberdeen City	55
Aberdeenshire	46
Angus	52
Argyll & Bute	52
Clackmannanshire	20
Dumfries & Galloway	50
Dundee City	75
East Ayrshire	33
East Dunbartonshire	27
East Lothian	39
East Renfrewshire	40
Edinburgh City	262
Eilean Siar	6
Falkirk	57
Fife	164
Glasgow City	340
Highland	111
Inverclyde	51
Midlothian	21
Moray	32
North Ayrshire	61
North Lanarkshire	108
Orkney Islands	5
Perth & Kinross	67
Renfrewshire	87
Scottish Borders	61
Shetland Islands	12
South Ayrshire	36
South Lanarkshire	131
Stirling	37
West Dunbartonshire	60
West Lothian	64
No Local Authority stated	129

What benefits do panel members have experience of:

Name of Benefit	Number of people
Disability Living Allowance	877
Personal Independence Payment	873
Carer's Allowance	440
Winter Fuel Payment	368
Cold Weather Payment	262
Discretionary Housing Payment	236
Severe Disablement Allowance	148
Scottish Welfare Fund	147
Universal Credit	134
Attendance Allowance	71
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit	57
Healthy Start	46
Funeral Expenses Payment	32
Sure Start Maternity Grant	18