Client Panels Newsletter: Issue 9

First of all, thank you to all of our members, especially those who have recently joined or extended their membership - we now have around 15,000 Client Panel members. We’re grateful to everyone who has taken part in our research projects.

New reports

Annual Client Panels Survey 2023

More than 1,100 people took part in our first Annual Client Panels Survey during November and December 2023. The survey asked Client Panel members about their experience with Social Security Scotland, including things like receiving payments and getting in touch with us. The aim of the survey was to find out what was working well and what could be improved.

The survey found that the vast majority (84%) of people who completed the survey had a positive overall experience with Social Security Scotland in the previous year. Respondents’ experiences of receiving payments and interactions with our staff were especially positive.

On the other hand, the survey found that half (50%) of those who reported a change of circumstances said it made them feel anxious. The survey also found that some people felt they had to wait too long for their application to be processed and some said they didn’t get enough updates during the wait.

The findings from the survey were shared with staff across Social Security Scotland and Scottish Government so they could be used to improve our service.

You can read the report here: Annual Client Panels Survey 2023

You can read a summary here: Annual Client Panels Survey 2023 Summary report

We plan to run this survey every year to track how things change over time.

You can find out about the 2024 survey in the ‘News and Updates’ section below.

Local Delivery Service Survey 2023

Local Delivery is a free Social Security Scotland service that’s available across Scotland. It’s a way for people to get person-to-person support with an application, or to ask questions about the application process.

We carried out a survey of Client Panel members to find out about their experience of the Local Delivery service. Lots of people told us they hadn’t heard of the service, but the people who had used the service mostly rated it good or very good.

We have shared the survey findings with colleagues working in Local Delivery to help them improve the service they provide to clients. Some improvements have already been made – for example, a new option has been added to the phoneline to allow clients to more quickly speak to advisors about booked Local Delivery appointments. There was also support for setting up a more regular feedback survey to allow clients to continue telling us about their experiences of the Local Delivery service.

You can read the full report here: Local Delivery Service Survey 2023

You can read a summary here: Local Delivery Service Survey Summary 2023

Measuring Our Charter 2023-2024

Our Charter sets out what everyone in Scotland can expect from the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland. The Charter Measurement Framework is a list of measures that relate to the commitments set out in Our Charter. Every year we collect information and data for the measures, put it into the framework, and then publish the results so that everyone can see how the organisation is performing.

During the year from April 2023 to March 2024:

• 89% of Client Survey respondents who had been in contact with our staff ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that they were treated with kindness
• 69% of Client Survey respondents who had applied for a benefit ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that the application process was clear
• 68% of Client Survey respondents ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that Social Security Scotland is an honest organisation

Our researchers have shared the results across Social Security Scotland to help make improvements to the organisation and the service it provides.

You can read the Charter Measurement Framework report for 2023-24 here: Social Security Scotland - Measuring Our Charter 2023-2024

Other recent projects

Alternative Communication

In January and February 2025, the User Research team did some research to better understand the needs and experiences of people who use alternative communication formats and have additional communication needs. This was part of work that aims to improve the accessibility of our service and make sure we are communicating with people in a way that works for them.

As part of this research, we did interviews with Client Panel members, asking them about their communication needs and their experiences with Social Security Scotland. We also asked for feedback on how we ask people about communication formats and ideas for what we could do differently.

The research took place with a wide range of clients, including people receiving Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment, Carers Support Payment, Scottish Child Payment, and Best Start Foods. We are now analysing the insights from this research to feed them into ongoing work about how we communicate with clients.

Adult Disability Payment Review Letters

In our last newsletter, we told you that we had been gathering feedback on a new design of our letters. In November 2024, User Researchers did research with Adult Disability Payment clients about the letters they would receive in the lead up to a review period. This research aimed to better understand client experience and expectations of letters issued throughout the review process, and gathered feedback on how we could improve the way this information is presented.

The team spoke to clients who had either been through a review very recently or had a review coming up soon. The research provided recommendations on improving transparency and providing clearer timelines to clients within review letters.

The insights from this research, and the earlier research on letter designs, have helped us understand more about what it’s like to get a letter from Social Security Scotland. As a result, we’ve:

• Improved the letter we send to clients who are going to have a benefit reviewed to make it clearer what they can expect, and how to get the help and information they may need
• Improved the letter we send to clients when payment rates are increased to make it shorter and clearer
• Added a big, bold heading to all our letters so clients can easily see why we’ve written to them and what they need to do.
• Designed a back page with helpful contact information and websites

Our Charter

In November 2024, the User Research team did research with Client Panel members to understand how they would like to get information about Our Charter.

Our Charter is explained in a 16-page booklet which is sent to clients. We wanted to find out if this works for our clients, or if people would prefer to receive a short leaflet instead, with full information available online. Our objective was to also understand the value of Our Charter and what was most important to clients.

This research involved Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment, Best Start Grant, Best Start Foods, Scottish Child Payment and Winter Heating Payment clients. We also tested the format of Our Charter with clients who use assistive technologies and alternative formats to better understand their needs.

The insights from this research have been used to make recommendations to improve this particular communication offer to our clients. Further work continues to explore how we can improve and enhance communications with our wide variety of clients.

Communications Survey

In January and February, 691 Client Panel members took part in a short survey about texts, emails and letters from Social Security Scotland. This will help us to understand how clients feel about our texts, emails and letters, and make better choices about how we use them.

We also asked Client Panel members about how they use the web addresses that we sometimes include in letters. In particular, we wanted to know how clients type the web addresses when using the internet. As a result of the findings, we are now thinking about new ways to show some of our web addresses so that they are easier to type.

who have recently joined or extended their membership - we now have around 15,000 Client Panel members. We’re grateful to everyone who has taken part in our research projects.

Contact us

If you want to leave the Client Panels

You can leave the Client Panels at any time. If you no longer want to take part let us know by using details in the Contact us section above.

Feedback and suggestions

You can send us feedback and suggestions for this newsletter by using the contact details below.

We’ll contact you in your preferred way when we can. If you decide you’d prefer we contacted you in another way, let us know and we’ll update our records. To do this or to let us know of any other relevant information to do with our research, you can contact us:

Online using our contact form: www.mygov.scot/client-panels/contact-client-panel

Freephone: 0800 029 4974

Post: Insights Research, PO Box 10303, Dundee, DD1 9FY

You can ask for phone line language interpretation by calling 0800 029 4974. If you’re a British Sign Language (BSL) user, you can contact us by going to contactscotland-bsl.org. If you’re a text phone user, you can call us using the 18001 prefix.

If you have questions about your benefits

The Client Panels team do not have access to your case information and can’t give advice. You can contact Social Security Scotland by:

• web chat: chat.socialsecurity.gov.scot/
• Freephone 0800 182 2222 (8am to 6pm Monday to Friday)
• if you're a British Sign Language user, you can use the contactSCOTLAND app to contact Social Security Scotland by video relay
• by post: Social Security Scotland, General Enquiries, PO Box 10301, Dundee, DD1 9FY