Delivering our service with dignity

To ensure people in Scotland have a positive experience of social security, we listen to their feedback and make changes to our processes.

One of these changes was how we send letters, we moved from traditional brown envelopes to white in our correspondence with clients.

This simple step was taken after we spoke to people with experience of the benefits system who told us the brown envelopes typically used for official letters had left them feeling anxious.

One member of our Experience Panels said: “When this big 40-page brown envelope through your doorway, you just think I won't bother.” Another spoke of “the horror of the brown envelope when you see it on your doorstep”.

Deciding to change the design of our envelopes from brown to white was one way we try to give our clients a better experience of social security and reduce stress and anxiety for our clients. This is just one way we ensure our service is rooted in our principles of dignity, fairness and respect.

We recently opened a new public space on the ground floor of our Head Office, Agnes Husband House, in Dundee. People can drop in any time to receive advice on Scottish benefits and make an appointment to meet one of our local delivery team to get support on benefit applications.

Local delivery advisers can answer queries about Social Security Scotland benefits, help clients to complete online or paper application forms, offer other support such as identity and document verification and help with submitting change of circumstances information.

People can book an appointment with a local delivery adviser by contacting Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222.