Social Security Experience Panels: Carers with English as a second language

About the research

The research event was held in Glasgow in March 2023. The event was split into two sessions. One was organised by the Experience Panels, and the second by User Research^[1].

Nine focus groups were held during the Experience Panel’s session, with 54 participants taking part in total.

Participants were drawn from four different language groups: Cantonese, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.

Focus groups explored participants’ views and experiences as carers with English as a second language, including:

• Barriers they faced when interacting with Social Security Scotland or other support organisations.
• Any experiences of receiving Carer’s Allowance.
• What other support services for carers they knew about, used or wanted to connect with.
• Suggestions for what changes they would like to see to Carer Support Payment and support services in future.

The event was supported by Happy to Translate, a local community partner who assisted with recruitment, translation services on the day, and logistics such as venue and catering.

Interpreters were present at each table to help with understanding, although some participants communicated in English. Where a quote used in this summary was from an interpreter, rather than directly from a participant, this has been noted.