Welcome to the Client Panels Newsletter.
In this ninth edition of our newsletter, we are sharing links to new reports, information about recent projects, and news and updates.
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.
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 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
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:
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
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.
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:
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.
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.
Earlier in this newsletter, we told you about the Annual Client Panels Survey and shared a link to the 2023 report.
At the end of 2024, Client Panel members were invited to take part in the latest Annual Client Panels Survey, and we are now looking at what you told us this time around.
We will publish the findings of the Annual Client Panels Survey 2024 in Summer 2025.
Child Poverty Action Group is looking to speak with parents and carers who are on a low income and have experienced difficulties getting Scottish Child Payment and Universal Credit. This is not a Client Panels project, and Social Security Scotland are not involved in the work. More information about the project is available here.
If you would like to take part, please email: mbryce@cpagscotland.org.uk.
You can leave the Client Panels at any time. If you no longer want to take part, let us know by using details below in the contact us section.
You can send us feedback and suggestions for this newsletter by using the contact details below.
We’ll contact you using the details you’ve given us. If you prefer we contact 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 research related information, contact us:
The Client Panels team do not have access to your case information and can’t give advice. You can contact a Social Security Scotland Client Advisor by: