Information relating to recruitment and diversity practices at Social Security Scotland: FOI release

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

FOI Reference: FOI/202500460773
Date received: 7 April 2025
Date responded: 6 May 2025

Information requested

Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I request the following information relating to recruitment and diversity practices at Social Security Scotland:

Request for information 1: Recruitment to Grade A4 and Above (Last Two Years):

a. The total number of people recruited to Grade A4 (or equivalent) and higher roles in the last two calendar years.

b. Of these appointments, how many identified as Black, Asian, or from other minority ethnic backgrounds (broken down by ethnicity if possible). (How many recruited were Black, Asian and people of colour)

Request for information 2: Post-Anonymised Sifting Recruitment:

a. The total number of people recruited to Grade A4 and above since anonymised sifting practices were discontinued.

b. Of these, how many identified as Black, Asian, or from other minority ethnic backgrounds. (How many recruited were Black, Asian and people of colour)

Request for information 3: Ethnicity and Religion of Appointees:

For individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds appointed to Grade A4 and above in the last two years, please provide anonymised aggregated data on:

a. Their specific ethnic backgrounds.

b. Their religious affiliations (if recorded).

Request for information 4: Hiring Manager Demographics (Last Two Years):

The number of hiring managers involved in recruitment processes over the last two years, broken down by:

a. White ethnicity.

b. Black, Asian, or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

Request for information 5: Ethnic Composition of Sifting Panels (Last Two Years):

The ethnic composition (e.g., White/BAME percentages or counts) of all sifting panels convened for recruitment processes in the last two years.

Request for information 6: Specific 2025 Recruitment Panels (TSO and Fraud & Error Roles):

The ethnic composition of sifting panels used for the following 2025 recruitment exercises:

a. Team Support Officer (TSO) in Client Services and Planning (CSP).

b. Recovery Officers in Fraud and Error.

Request for information 7: Bias Mitigation Measures:

Details of measures implemented by Social Security Scotland to address unconscious and systemic bias in recruitment

Response

Request for information 1:

a. Between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2025 inclusive, 821 staff were appointed at grade A4 or above in Social Security Scotland.

This includes all internal or external hires on permanent or fair and open fixed-term appointments but does not include staff appointed through a temporary promotion, a level transfer, or a fixed-term appointment that was not fair and open.

This information may also include duplicates if the same individual was appointed multiple times in the two-year period.

In the year 2023-24 there were 20 recruitment campaigns that did not result in someone being hired

In the year 2024-25 there were 20 recruitment campaigns that did not result in someone being hired

b. Of these 821 staff, 671 identified as white, 19 identified as African, Caribbean or Black, 46 identified as Asian and 20 identified as Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups or another ethnic group (other than White). 65 candidates opted out of the ethnicity question or provided no response.

Please note that candidates are asked to complete a Diversity and Inclusion questionnaire as part of their application, however all questions are voluntary.

Request for information 2 a and b:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested. Anonymised sifting has not taken place within Social Security Scotland

The Scottish Government Diversity and Inclusion Strategy has an action to pilot anonymised hiring using the new Oracle Cloud functionality across Scottish Government applications, this will also apply to Social Security Scotland. The Year 2 timeline aims to have this in place by March 2026.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

Request for information 3:

a. As per question 1, of the 821 staff appointed to grades A4 and above (noting the exclusions detailed in the response to question 1), 671 identified as white, 19 identified as African, Caribbean or Black, 46 identified as Asian and 20 identified as Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups or another ethnic group (other than White).

b. The 85 individuals declaring an ethnic minority background declared their religion as follows:

No religion	15
Roman Catholic	10
Any other Christian	14
Hindu	21
Muslim	17
Any other religion	5
Prefer not to say / no response	3

The data above is management information taken from our internal HR (applicant tracking) systems. Diversity data, which is collected at the point of application, is not mandatory for candidates to supply, and data on which candidates are hired is maintained by hiring managers and recruiters. As such, the complete picture may differ slightly from the data presented here if candidates have chosen not to declare their ethnicity or if administrative errors are present in the data.

Request for information 4:

Across campaigns posted between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2025, there were 111 unique hiring managers.

a. 96 have declared their ethnicity as “White”,

b. 5 have declared as belonging to a mixed or non-white ethnic background and 10 did not declare their ethnic background.

Please note this data relates to Hiring Managers as identified by the Applicant Tracking System only. It does not account for Hiring Managers whose campaign(s) have been managed by a central support team. In this case, the Applicant Tracking System record will reflect the support lead only.

Please note that hiring managers may not be involved in the sift or assessment process for a campaign and that different panel members can complete the sift and the interviews or assessment.

Request for information 5:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. To obtain this information it would require us to review 355 hiring campaigns to identify the ethnic composition of sifting panels.

Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. A possible option is to narrow the timeframe. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: https://www.foi.scot/how-do-i-ask

Request for information 6:

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to all of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie

Given the low numbers of staff involved in each sift we are satisfied that there is a realistic prospect that releasing the information on the ethnicity of staff risks releasing personal information, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

Request for information 7:

Social Security Scotland has implemented the following measures to mitigate against bias in recruitment:

• All panel members are required to have completed the the Inclusive Recruitment module on Pathways (the Scottish Government Digital Learning Platform). Inclusive Recruitment | SSS - Social Security Scotland

• It is also expected that at least one panel member will have completed Success Profiles hiring manager / panel member training before the campaign reaches the sift stage. Supplementary training materials are also available on Pathways for all panel members. This includes guidance on sifting CVs and supporting statements using the Success Profiles framework, which provides advice on avoiding bias and discrimination during the sifting process. Search | SSS - Social Security Scotland

• Our intranet (Saltire) guidance for hiring managers explains the benefits of a diverse panel and encourages hiring managers to select colleagues from a range of backgrounds, characteristics and experiences. This gives a more thorough assessment of role suitability and helps reduce group biases in decision-making. Running a recruitment campaign – guidance for hiring managers in Social Security Scotland

• Social Security Scotland’s resourcing model is built upon strong partnerships between Resourcing Managers and Consultants and their hiring managers. This involves Resourcing providing close support and guidance to hiring managers throughout the duration of a campaign, including around the diversity of their panel membership. In addition, Resourcing will provide advice at each stage of the campaign to encourage inclusivity; this includes the wording of adverts and interview questions, as well as supporting standard setting and fairly applying role criteria. This focuses on tackling bias and promoting evidence-based approaches to sifting and interviewing.

• The Success Profiles framework was introduced by the Scottish Government to attract and retain talented people with experience from a range of sectors and from all walks of life. This framework is more flexible than a purely competency-based approach and assesses candidates against a range of elements using a variety of selection methods. This gives the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, driving up performance and improving diversity and inclusivity. About Success Profiles - Success profiles: candidate guide - gov.scot

• Resourcing team’s engagement activity also plays a key role in supporting diversity in recruitment, by helping to attract a broad and representative candidate pool. We regularly run workshops explaining the application process and making it more accessible to all. We proactively engage with third sector organisations that support underrepresented communities, including those focused on disability, race and ethnicity. We have also engaged with groups such as the Race Equality Network (REN) to embed inclusive recruitment practices and encourage diverse panel members to support fairer outcomes.

About FOI

Social Security Scotland is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. The Scottish Government also publishes responses to requests. You can view the responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.