Our Charter is ready to go live

At the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ Gathering in Glasgow, Social Security Scotland is talking to people about how it will make its Charter matter.

The Scottish Parliament approved the Charter on Wednesday 6 February. Following approval, Social Security Scotland has been working to produce this in a range of accessible formats including audio, Braille, video with British Sign Language, large print, easy read and a range of commonly used languages.

All of these formats will be available from Monday 4 March and anyone who applies for a benefit will get a summary of the Charter along with a letter detailing the outcome of their application.

David Wallace, Social Security Scotland Chief Executive said:

“Our Charter will ensure the Scottish public are aware of the rights they are entitled to under our new social security system. It is not just a document that will be buried on a website or that we keep a stock of in a cupboard and dust off from time to time.

“It is something that we will make reference to in everything that we do, and that all of us at Social Security Scotland will live and breathe and take into consideration in our actions, decisions and behaviour.

“And where we aren’t living up to this standard – there will be real recourse. If people feel that in their interaction with us, we did not uphold the commitments in Our Charter, they can complain and we will investigate and take action where we need to improve.

“This document is fundamental to everything we will do and we were delighted to talk to organisations at this year’s Gathering - who work with the people who will be using our service - so that they can help us to get that message out there.”