Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS)
What is SCoSS? • The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 established the Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS) as an advisory non-departmental public body • It is independent of Government and Parliament but has a relationship with both. “As we continue to build a Scottish social • The Commission declared itself ‘open security system it is for business’ in February 2019 only right that we are held to account for the decisions we take”.
Who we are Sally Witcher (Chair) is CEO of Inclusion Scotland Dr Mark Simpson is Judith Paterson is Sharon McIntyre is lecturer in Law at Head of Advice and Director of Ulster University, Rights (Scotland) for Operations at researching social Child Poverty Action Changeworks security and human Group in Scotland rights (CPAG)
What we do • We scrutinise certain regulations that relate to benefits or assistance in the Act • We check if they reflect the principles in the Act and human rights • We also have to report, from time to time (we can decide when) on whether expectations in the Social Security Charter are being met, and make recommendations for improvement if they aren’t
How will SCoSS carry out scrutiny? • We have to write a report, the Scottish Government has to respond, and both go to the Parliament when the regulations are laid • Our report will make observations and recommendations about the draft regulations • Scottish Government may amend the regulations to take account of our recommendations. If not, it may explain in its response why it hasn’t
Which regulations will we scrutinise? Regulations on assistance under the Social Security Scotland Act • Carer’s assistance • Cold-spell heating assistance • Winter heating assistance • Disability assistance • Early years assistance • Employment-injury assistance • Funeral expense assistance • Housing assistance • Short-term assistance
Ways of working • Engage across Scotland • Accessible and inclusive communications • ‘No surprises’. • Add value to existing consultation and scrutiny processes • Scrutiny framework • Importance of monitoring, evaluation and expanding the evidence base - to see meaningful impact for people who rely on social security
Scrutiny framework • Relevant to scrutiny of regulations and Charter • Principles and human rights cover development process, content and continuous improvement • Sections in the scrutiny framework: • Overview • Policy intention • Policy development • Policy design • Policy delivery • Policy impact and improvement • Comments welcome!
Outline of process • Lead policy officials meet with SCoSS at an early stage • SG consultation on policy direction/ draft regulations • Any additional information such as impact assessments • If consultation on draft regulations, revised in light of consultation • Draft regulations (in as final form as possible at this stage) formally referred to SCoSS, along with supporting documentation • SCoSS may want to consult, get advice, etc • SCoSS submits scrutiny report, SG draft response, regulations laid • Social Security Committee may take evidence, decides whether to recommend approval.
Questions?
Contact details • Lead secretary: Terry Shevlin, terry.shevlin@gov.scot • Deputy secretary : Fiona Lodge, fiona.lodge@gov.scot • Web-site (temporary): https://www.gov.scot/groups/scottish- commission-on-social-security/ • Twitter: @TheSCoSS
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