Social Security Experience Panels - keeping staff and clients safe: report

This report outlines the findings of a survey conducted with panel members, which looked to help design the processes for keeping Social Security Scotland staff and clients safe.


About the Participants

Information from the survey was added to information from the ‘About Your Benefits and You’[1] and ‘Social Security Experience Panels: Who is in the panels and their experiences so far’[2] surveys. The demographic data collected in these surveys was linked to the information supplied previously by participants as part of the longitudinal data set for this project.The following demographic information is given to give context to the findings from the survey.

Not all responses were linked in this way. This was due to missing or unclear information from the survey responses or participants not having previously supplied us with the relevant demographic information. 191 of respondents demographic data was linked to the information supplied previously.

Around two thirds of respondents whose data we could link identified as ‘woman or girl’ (71 per cent) and a third (27 per cent) of participants identified as ‘Man or boy’.

Table 1. Gender of respondents (n=191)

Gender %
Man or boy 27
Woman or girl 71
Prefer not to say 2
Total 100

Around half of respondents whose data we could link were aged 45 or over (49 per cent) with just over two in ten aged between 25 and 44 (17 per cent).

Table 2. Age of respondents (n=191)

Age group %
16-24 1
25-44 16
45-59 49
60-79 33
Prefer not to say 1
Total 100

Over eight out of ten respondents whose data we could link (84 per cent) said that they had had a disability or long term condition.

Table 3. Disability or long term health condition (n= 187)

Disability or long term condition %
Yes 84
No 16
Total 100

Over half of respondents whose data we could link were carers for an adult or child with a disability, or for someone due to old age (53 per cent).

Table 4. Caring responsibilities of respondents (n=81)

Caring responsibilities %
Carer 53
Not a Carer 46
Prefer not to say 1
Total 100

The majority of respondents whose data we could link were living within an urban area (80 per cent).[3]

Table 5. Urban or Rural (n= 191)

Location %
Rural 20
Urban 80
Total 100

The majority of respondents who completed this survey told us that they have experience of Disability Living Allowance (80 per cent). Around a half have experience of Personal Independence Payment (52 per cent), Winter Fuel Payment or Carer’s Allowance (49 per cent). A third of respondents have experience of Discretionary Housing Payment (33 per cent).

Table 6. Benefit experience (n=191)

Benefit %
Personal Independence Payment 80
Disability Living Allowance 52
Winter Fuel Payment 49
Carer’s Allowance 35
Discretionary Housing Payment 33
Severe Disablement Allowance 28
Attendance Allowance 26
Funeral Expenses 9
Sure Start Maternity Grant 3
Industrial Injuries Disability Benefit 2
Scottish Welfare Fund 1

More detailed demographic information on the Experience Panels as a whole can be found in ‘Social Security Experience Panels: Who is in the panels and their experiences so far’ [4].

Contact

Email: SocialSecurityExperience@gov.scot

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