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The Scottish Government only holds location information for those organisations to which it provides an HR service. Data is available for all Core Directorates, most Agencies and some Non-Ministerial departments. Location information is not collected for other organisations which contribute to the Public Sector Employment statistics.

Scottish Government Core Directorates, Q2 2017

Note:

1. The total headcount for Scottish Government Core Directorates is the same from the Scottish Government HR and Public Sector Employment data sources.

Agencies, Q2 2017

Notes:

1. The total headcount for Agencies in the above table is not the same as the total in the Public Sector Employment publication as the Scottish Government HR data source only includes those agencies for which the Scottish Government provides an HR service.

2. Agencies included: Accountant in Bankruptcy, Disclosure Scotland, Education Scotland, Student Awards Agency for Scotland, Scottish Public Pensions Agency, Transport Scotland.

Non-ministerial Departments, Q2 2017

Notes:

1. The total headcount for non-ministerial departments in the above table is not the same as the total in the Public Sector Employment publication as the Scottish Government HR data source only includes those departments for which the Scottish Government provides an HR service.

2. Non-ministerial departments included: Food Standards Scotland, National Records of Scotland, Revenue Scotland, Scottish Fiscal Commission, Scottish Housing Regulator.

A new expenses process for the Experience Panels was set up over the summer. This expenses scheme covers any reasonable receipted expenses incurred in taking part in Experience Panel research (for example, travel, childcare and subsistence expenses). Following this set up phase we aim for members to receive payment within 2-3 days of Scottish Government receiving a completed form.

We are determined that there should be as few barriers as possible to participation, and are therefore reimbursing panel members for travel, subsistence and childcare costs incurred as part of their contribution to designing and building a new Social Security system for Scotland.

As part of registering for the event, participants were asked to provide details of how they intended to travel to the focus group. The Experience Panels expenses process covers all receipted travel costs covering all forms of transport (for example rail, air, tram, bus, taxi, ferry, motor mileage). As the Scottish Government has contracts in place with Edinburgh and Glasgow taxis, for sessions in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the Scottish Government arranged taxis for participants when required. Where participants used taxis elsewhere, they were reimbursed for their costs using the standard Experience Panels expenses claim form.

How information is being collected from Experience Panels depends on the research design. Taking part might include completing short surveys, or taking part in interviews and workshops. Activities can be carried out face-to-face, on the phone and online.

The information collected from both the "About Your Benefits and You" survey and focus groups will be used to develop a programme of work in collaboration with the Experience Panels that reflects what is important to our panel members.

Experience Panels research will be analysed and reported by Scottish Government researchers working on Social Security. The findings of Experience Panels research will be shared with Experience Panel members, and published as part of the Scottish Government’s social research publication series. Links to all publications will be made available at www.gov.scot/socialsecurity.

It is crucial that Experience Panel members - all of whom are unpaid volunteers - are able to see how their knowledge and direct, personal experience is shaping the new Social Security system for Scotland, So we will be communicating with them regularly, giving updates on the research programme and how the results are being used.

We are determined that there should be as few barriers as possible to participation, and are therefore reimbursing panel members for travel and childcare costs incurred as part of their contribution to designing and building a new Social Security system for Scotland.

We minimised travel costs and the time that people were away from home by holding sessions across Scotland. We offered to cover expenses to all participants who took part in Experience Panels focus groups. However, some participants did not need to claim, for example, they were pre-booked taxis or had bus passes.

Up until the 27 August 2017, we received 58 completed expenses claims as part of the About Your Benefits and You research. Five claims did not include bank details and these are being followed up; the rest have been processed and paid.

Scottish Government researchers are now working on the next stage of the Experience Panels process, the ‘About Your Benefits and You’ research. This will help us understand in a bit more detail what panel members think works well in the current system, and where there is room for improvement. This research involves a survey of panel members, as well as a series of focus groups around Scotland.

The survey element closed on 1 September 2017 and over 1,000 people have responded. The final respondent count will be made available in due course. Alongside this, in July and August, Scottish Government researchers held a total of 34 focus sessions across Scotland as part of this work, involving over 250 participants. A variety of morning, afternoon and evening sessions were held. The Table in the background notes provides a breakdown of the number of sessions held.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) to mitigate the bedroom tax are administered by Local Authorities, information on the age and Pension Credit eligibility of claimants is not collated for the purpose of administering or reporting on DHPs.

Social Security Directorate was established in July 2016. The following table provides the relevant information from that period onwards. Full time equivalent staff in Social Security Directorate (directly employed - permanent & fixed term, modern apprentice & inward loan).

a) 0 secondments from DWP

b) 1 inward loan from HMRC

We have, however, recruited a number of permanent members of staff from the UK Government, local authorities and out-with the Civil Service.

The Scottish Government offers staff working in its Directorates various routes to move from one Directorate to another. These include high priority vacancies, managed moves and open, internal advertising. We do not operate policies around transfers or internal secondments.