Social Security Experience Panels: applications and access to support
This report outlines the Social Security Experience Panel members’ views expressed in a survey about what information about application progress Social Security Scotland should give and how Social Security Scotland should link them to other support.
Accessing information and support about your application
Receiving information about your application
Survey respondents were asked about how they would want to receive information at different stages in the application process, in relation to the progress of their application.
They were asked how important it is to choose to have different ways to be contacted at each stage. Nine in ten (91 per cent) survey respondents said that this was very important or important. Four per cent were unsure and five per cent said that it was not that important or not important at all.
Respondents were also asked about how they would like to be contacted by Social Security Scotland at each stage of the application process.
This included telling them that the application had been received; that it had started to be processed; the status of the application; that a decision has been made; and to let them know that more information is required to support the claim and that the agency will be in contact.
Across all stages of the application process, email was the most popular communication choice. More than two thirds (68 per cent) of respondents would want to receive an email to let them know that their application had been received. Almost a third would want to receive an email to be informed that their application had started to be processed (63 per cent) and to hear the status of their application (62 per cent).
Three in five (61 per cent) would want an email to hear that a decision had been made on their application and to hear that more information is required to support their claim. For these stages of the process, letter was also a popular choice, with three in five (61 per cent) respondents saying they would like a letter to tell them that a decision had been made, and half (50 per cent) saying they would like a letter to let them know that further information is required to support their claim.
There were slight differences in respondents’ communication preferences depending on the stage of the application process. For example, three in five (61 per cent) would like to be informed that a decision had been made by letter, whereas just a third (34 per cent) would want a letter to inform them that Social Security Scotland had started to process their application.
Table 1 illustrates these preferences in more detail.
Table 1 (n=225): At each stage of the application process, how would you like Social Security Scotland to contact you (please tick all that you would feel happy with)?
| To tell you that we have received your application |
To tell you that we have started to process your application |
To tell you the status of your application |
To tell you that a decision has been made |
Telling you that further information is required to support the claim and that the agency will be in contact |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
68% |
63% |
62% |
61% |
61% |
| SMS/ text message |
46% |
40% |
36% |
33% |
36% |
| By post |
41% |
34% |
36% |
61% |
50% |
| Online |
28% |
26% |
27% |
30% |
29% |
| Telephone |
23% |
22% |
21% |
31% |
37% |
| In person |
7% |
7% |
7% |
11% |
11% |
| Textphone |
5% |
5% |
4% |
5% |
4% |
| Typetalk |
4% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
| Don’t know |
1% |
1% |
1% |
0% |
0% |
The importance of choice of communication channel throughout the application process was echoed by focus group participants. A number of participants highlighted the importance of not assuming that clients are able to use online channels, or are able to easily print information themselves.
The value of having an option to get information using a Freephone number was highlighted by a number of participants.
Others highlighted that some people also face barriers to using phone services, including the cost, anxiety associated with speaking on the phone, barriers associated to their disability or health condition, and wishing to have a written record of communication which is not possible over the phone.
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