Objective Connect guidance for completing and approving a supporting information request

An applicant for one of our disability benefits has identified you as someone who:

• has an understanding of their disability, condition or needs
• can provide supporting information to support their application

This information helps Social Security Scotland to:

• build a picture of the applicant’s everyday life
• understand the impact their conditions or disability have on their daily life
• make sure the applicant gets the rate of award that’s right for them

What is supporting information?

Supporting information is information that:

• confirms an applicant’s conditions, disability or needs
• describes the impact the conditions or disability have on their life

Read more about supporting information on the mygov.scot website.

1. Log into or register with Objective Connect.
2. Accept the workspace invitation.
3. Complete the supporting information request form.
4. Ask the Approver at your organisation to approve the completed form.

These steps are set out in detail below.

Receiving an email inviting you to join Objective Connect

1. Social Security Scotland will send a supporting information request to the ‘Front Door Team’ at your local authority or health board. The ‘Front Door Team’ manages supporting information requests from Social Security Scotland.
2. Your Front Door Team will:
   1. assign the supporting information request to you
   2. send you an introductory email with instructions on what you need to do
3. You’ll also receive an email from Objective Connect, inviting you to join the Objective Connect workspace. This may be the first email you receive if your organisation’s Front Door Team does not send an introductory email first.
   

The email will ask you to log into the Objective Connect workspace.

The Objective Connect email will look like this. The sender will say ‘Social Security Integration’.

If you’re also the Approver for this request, you’ll get another email from Objective Connect telling you there’s an approval task to complete.

The invitation email from Objective Connect has a ‘Login’ link to the Objective Connect workspace.

If you‘re already registered with Objective Connect

1. Log in using:

• the email address the Objective Connect invitation was sent to
• your password (the password you created when you registered with Objective Connect)

2. For next steps, go to the ‘View and accept the workspace invitation’ section below.

If you need to register with Objective Connect

1. Select the ‘Login’ link in the invitation email from Objective Connect.
2. A registration screen will appear.
3. Complete the ‘First Name’ and ‘Last Name’ fields.
4. Create and confirm a password.
5. Select ‘REGISTER’.
   
   
6. The ‘Objective Connect Terms of Use’ will appear. Select ‘Accept’. The ‘My Workspaces’ screen will appear.
7. For next steps, go to the ‘Accept the workspace invitation’ section below.

You need to accept the invitation to be able to access the supporting information request.

1. Once logged into Objective Connect, you’ll see the ‘WORKSPACES’ tab and supporting information request form. The form name will be a long series of numbers.
   
   
2. Select ‘Accept invitation’ to join the workspace for the supporting information request.
   
   
3. When you select ‘Accept invitation’, a two-step verification window will appear, asking you for the workspace access code.
   
   A one-time verification key code will be emailed to you.
   
4. Enter the access code, then select ‘Submit’.
   
   
   
   
5. You should now see the workspace for the supporting information request.
   
   

In the workspace, you’ll see an editable Microsoft Word document. This is the supporting information request form. The document name will be a long series of numbers.

To preview the form, select the document link.

To complete the form:

1. Select the 3 dots to the right of the document name.
2. In the dropdown, select 'Edit in Office online'.
   
   If you do not have Office 365, select 'Download' to download the document and work on it locally.

| Do not select ‘Upload new version’ at this point.

'Edit in Office online' option

When you select this option, a new Office 365 Word tab will appear in your browser.

| The form will automatically save as you complete it. Do not download a copy of the form to your local drive.

1. Work through the form in Word, providing information where you can. If you need help answering the questions, use the relevant guidance:
   1. Adult Disability Payment: Questions guidance for supporting information from local authorities and health boards
   2. Child Disability Payment: Questions guidance for supporting information from local authorities and health board
      
      If you want to save your work and return to it later, you can close the window. The form will automatically save and upload back into Objective Connect. When you’re ready to complete the form, you can download the form again.
2. Before you finish the form, complete the following pages:
   1. penultimate page – enter your details
   2. last page – sign this page by adding your name and the date
3. Save the form by closing the window. It will automatically save and upload back into Objective Connect.
4. When you have finished the form, go to ‘Ask the Approver at your organisation to approve the completed form’ below.

‘Download’ option

Only use this option if you do not have Office 365.

When you select this option, a ‘Downloads’ box will appear in the top right corner of your screen.

| Do not change the file name at any point. It must be returned to Social Security Scotland with the exact same file name as the original document you received.

1. Select ‘Open file’ next to the downloaded form, to open a desktop version of Word.
2. Work through the form in Word, providing information where you can.
   
   If you need help answering the questions, use the relevant guidance:
   1. Adult Disability Payment: Questions guidance for supporting information from local authorities and health boards
   2. Child Disability Payment: Questions guidance for supporting information from local authorities and health boards
      
      If you want to save your work and return to it later, you need to upload the form back into Objective Connect. You can then download it again and complete it at a later date. To do this, follow step 4 below.
3. Before you finish the form, complete the following pages:
   1. penultimate page – enter your details
   2. last page – sign this page by adding your name and the date
4. When you have completed the form, upload it back into Objective Connect.
   
5. Select the 3 dots to the right of the document name, then select ‘Upload new version’ from the dropdown.
   
   
   
   An ‘Upload’ box will appear.
   
6. You can either:
   1. drag and drop the document into this box
   2. select ‘Browse’ to search for the form you saved to your local drive
7. Once you have uploaded the completed form, go to ‘Ask the Approver at your organisation to approve the completed form’ below.

When you have completed the form, you must contact the Approver at your organisation. They need to approve the completed form, so it can be returned to Social Security Scotland.

If you are both the Completer and Approver, you can approve your own supporting information form. Go to the ‘Guidance for Approvers’ section below.

When we send a supporting information request, we would normally expect a response within 28 calendar days.

Social Security Scotland case managers have discretion to make a decision on a case at 56 calendar days, without the supporting information they requested. The case manager may choose to wait for a piece of supporting information after this date, if they feel it’s of significant value to the case.

You must therefore aim to respond to a supporting information request within 28 calendar days. This ensures case managers are as informed as possible when making a decision on an application.

Contact your organisation’s Front Door Team.

You need to approve the completed supporting information request form, so it can be returned to Social Security Scotland.

The person completing the supporting information form (the ‘Completer’) will contact you when the form is ready to approve.

When this happens, you need to:

1. Open the email from Objective Connect.
2. Log into or register with Objective Connect.
3. Accept the workspace invitation.
4. Approve the completed supporting information request form.

These steps are set out in detail below.

You’ll get an automated email from Objective Connect that:

• tells you there’s an approval task to complete
• includes a login link to Objective Connect

This is what the email looks like.

You may receive this email before the Completer starts to fill in the form. This means it may take a few days or weeks before you can view and approve the form.

If you’re both the Completer and Approver, you can complete and approve your supporting information request form.

If the Completer and Approver are different people, the Completer must make sure the Approver is happy with their completed supporting information form.

1. Log into Objective Connect using the link in the email you received. If you need to, follow steps in the ‘Completer’ section above called ‘Log into or register with Objective Connect’.
   
   The ‘My Workspaces’ screen will appear.
   
   
   
   
2. For next steps, go to the ‘Accept the workspace invitation’ section below.

You need to accept the invitation to be able to approve the supporting information request.

1. Once logged into Objective Connect, you’ll see the ‘WORKSPACES’ tab and supporting information request. The document name will be a long series of numbers.
   
   
   
2. Select ‘Accept invitation’ next to the request you need to approve.
3. When you select ‘Accept invitation’, a two-step verification window will appear, asking for the workspace access code.
   A one-time verification key code will be emailed to you.
   
   
   
   
4. Enter the access code, then select ‘Submit’.
   
   This will open the workspace for the supporting information request you need to approve.
   
   
5. Go to ‘Approve the completed supporting information request form’ section below.

In the supporting information request screen, you’ll see:

• the completed request form
• a ‘Tasks’ box with ‘Approve’ and ‘Reject’ options

| Do not select ‘Reject’ at any time. If you do, it will send an incomplete form back to Social Security Scotland.

| Do not change the file name at any time. It must be returned to Social Security Scotland with the exact same file name as the original document you got.

Preview the form

1. Select the completed form.
   
   The completed form will open.
   
   To zoom in or out, select the ‘-‘ or ‘+’ options.
   
   To open it as full screen, select the square icon next to the magnifying glass.
   
   

To return to the request workspace, select either the browser back button or the link at the top of the screen.

Approve the form

1. Select ‘Approve’ in the ‘Tasks’ field.
   
   
   
2. A free text box will appear. Include a message to be sent with this task, if you need to.
3. Select ‘Approve’ again.
   
   
4. The task will update to say ‘Completed’.
   
   
   If you’re not happy approving the form, discuss this with the Completer.
   
   If, for any reason, you need to reject the supporting information request, you must first contact your organisation’s Front Door Team. They will liaise directly with Social Security Scotland Scotland. Do not select ‘Reject’.

After approval

Within 15 minutes of approving the completed form:

• the Completer and Approver get an email to say the supporting information request has been completed
• the supporting information request workspace is closed

When we send a supporting information request, we would normally expect a response within 28 calendar days.

Social Security Scotland case managers have discretion to make a decision on a case at 56 calendar days, without the supporting information they requested. The case manager may choose to wait for a piece of supporting information after this date, if they feel it’s of significant value to the case.

You must therefore aim to respond to a supporting information request within 28 calendar days. This ensures case managers are as informed as possible when making a decision on an application.

Contact your organisation’s Front Door Team.