Committee
Social Justice and Social Security Committee 12 March 2026 [Draft]
12 Mar 2026 · S6 · Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Item of business
Adult Disability Payment
Erica Young
Watch on SPTV
I will come in briefly.Our focus tends to be on telephony. Social Security Scotland delivers 15 payments but has one switchboard line. Getting text messages rolled out was brilliant progress.However, as far as the online service goes, one of the difficulties that our clients experience is that they must first establish a mygov.scot account. That can be quite difficult for people if they have limited digital access or literacy, or if they have set up an email address in the past but cannot remember their password and everything must be re-established. Some people are not necessarily comfortable going through a central Government portal. I think a lot of people would find it easier to upload things on a stand-alone digital portal.Social Security Scotland is very good at being proactive and has an evolving strategy that is able to respond to developments around inclusive communication and other things that would make the service better.Finally, I direct members to the application form, which we always think could be improved. We have been really impressed with the recent improvements that Social Security Scotland has proposed to the redetermination notice. In a similar spirit, a real focus on framing the application form in a way that facilitates free and full responses and encourages people to use the free text spaces would work best. We know from Social Security Scotland’s research that decision makers find that more open questions generate answers that are easier to base person-centred decisions on.We always must bear in mind that the process can be extremely overwhelming for people. We are asking people to consider the most difficult and sensitive parts of their lives and to confront things that they do not normally have to confront in everyday life. We must make it as easy as possible for people to open up about those things. People will take so many things for granted, and the form should be able to gently, not intrusively, prompt them to speak about them as openly and freely as possible.09:45
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Welcome back. Our next item of business is our evidence session on the Scottish Government’s response to Edel Harris’s independent review of adult disability...
Craig Smith (Scottish Action for Mental Health)
First, thank you very much for inviting me to give evidence. Overall, although we welcome the fact that in response to the independent review the Government ...
The Convener
SNP
Would anyone else like to come in on that point?
Erica Young (Citizens Advice Scotland)
Following on from what Craig Smith has said, one of the first things that I want to point out is that Scotland has demonstrated the scope of its ambition for...
Frank McKillop (Enable)
I echo much of what Craig Smith and Erika Young have said. The review came in the context of the 2024 report of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of...
Keith Park (MS Society Scotland)
I agree with everything that my colleagues on the panel have said. The MS Society Scotland is disappointed with the response of the Scottish Government for m...
The Convener
SNP
That has definitely given us food for thought—the figures are quite stark. Thanks for that, Keith.Looking at the Scottish Government’s response to the theme ...
Erica Young
The overall view from the Citizens Advice Scotland network is that the people’s service recommendations that are being taken forward are already highly align...
The Convener
SNP
That was really helpful. Does anyone else want to come in?
Craig Smith
Very briefly. I just want to echo what Erica Young has said. We welcome the fact that the Government has accepted most of the recommendations in this part of...
The Convener
SNP
We have discussed the recommendations that have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented. There are also bigger asks, such as in relation ...
Erica Young
Do you mean the better future recommendations that have been put on hold?
The Convener
SNP
Yes.
Erica Young
The key thing here is that those recommendations reflect the evidence that reorientation of the ADP criteria better to reflect modern life and capture the so...
The Convener
SNP
Thanks very much.
Carol Mochan (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The review suggested various additions to client communications, but the Government’s response emphasised the importance of clarity and simplicity. Do the wi...
Frank McKillop
We very much support the focus on simplicity, clarity and conciseness of information. Many of the people whom Enable has supported have said that they have b...
Carol Mochan
Lab
Having an easier flow of information might help many clients.You brought up a really important point about easy-to-read or easy-to-use guidance. Is there any...
Frank McKillop
I am not sure exactly where they get training. There are organisations that provide training. I would have to check whether Social Security Scotland is using...
Carol Mochan
Lab
It is something that we could look at as well.I do not know whether anyone else wants to come in.
Erica Young
I will come in briefly.Our focus tends to be on telephony. Social Security Scotland delivers 15 payments but has one switchboard line. Getting text messages ...
Carol Mochan
Lab
To be clear, are you saying that it is helpful for people to have free text boxes so that they can write in their own words about how they present?
Erica Young
Absolutely. So many people who are applying for the adult disability payment will have communication barriers or find it really difficult to articulate their...
Claire Baker
Lab
I will move on to theme 2, on processes that work. The Government accepted several recommendations but rejected others. The first of those rejected recommend...
Erica Young
I am happy to come in on that. The CAS network understands the Scottish Government’s position on that point, because there is a genuine risk that people migh...
Claire Baker
Lab
You recognise that there is a problem, but there is a solution that will lead to better decisions.There is a recommendation that there should be an opt-out, ...
Erica Young
We have seen a significant, three-fold, increase in the past year in the number of people seeking our advice about short-term assistance, but awareness and u...
Craig Smith
I absolutely agree with what Erica Young said. We believe that short-term assistance has been one of the really big positives of the development of the Scott...
Claire Baker
Lab
You are saying that short-term assistance could have an impact on the other benefits that a person receives.
Craig Smith
I echo Erica Young’s point that, because it is not a gateway to other payments, that must be clearly communicated to clients. Our position is that short-term...