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As set out in the Scottish Government’s response to the Committee’s recommendations in September 2022, no further work has been undertaken in relation to a mapping exercise for Advice Services. Mapping a sector as complex and dynamic as the advice sector would be a lengthy, labour-intensive process and any mapping exercise would be out-of-date very soon after completion.

Scottish Government has provided funding to the Independent Food Aid Network to develop localised 'Worrying About Money?' cash first referral leaflets for every local authority area in Scotland. These resources can be used both for people facing money worries and support workers. The leaflets identify which local agencies are best placed to help people maximise income and access any existing financial entitlements.

Social Security Scotland directly employed 3,976 staff (headcount) as at December 2022. There were 3,566 directly employed staff who work in Social Security Scotland's central buildings in Dundee and Glasgow.

Social Security Scotland has adopted hybrid working in its central buildings. All colleagues based in Dundee and Glasgow are expected to spend part of their working week in an office.

Social Security Scotland directly employed 3,976 staff (headcount) as at December 2022. Of this amount, 69 were fixed term, fixed term student placements and modern apprentices. The remaining 3,907 staff were permanent.

Information on Social Security Scotland’s workforce are published quarterly with the most recent statistics from December 2022 published 14 March 2023, published workforce statistics .

Official Statistics covering the number of Scottish Child Payment applications received and processed are published as part of the regularly scheduled quarterly publication. The latest Scottish Child Payment statistical publication was released on 28 February 2023.

The next publication will be published on 30 May 2023 and will include information on the number of applications received and processed by the end of March 2023. Official Statistics for Scottish Child Payment can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications

Social Security Scotland’s Local Delivery service has teams based in every Scottish Local Authority, and in many cases are co-located with existing services to make sure that they bring support to places that people currently go. This localised approach to support also means that visibility of the service is tailored to meet the demands and demographics of each Local Authority area.

Through analysis of their data, Social Security Scotland are able to identify areas with low take-up or high rates of unsuccessful applications. This evidence can then be used to target engagement with local stakeholders to raise awareness of Scottish benefits and effectively support people to take up their entitlements.

Social Security Scotland’s priority is to get decisions right first time and an extremely low number of re-determinations are carried out. The re-determination request rate for Child Disability Payment decisions made by Social Security Scotland is 4.6%, which indicates that the vast majority of clients are happy with the initial decision.

Re-determinations are an important part of the decision-making process as they give clients the opportunity to ask Social Security Scotland to look at their application afresh before lodging an appeal.

Child Disability Payment decisions are usually changed at re-determination stage because the client provides additional information that was not available when the initial decision was made. Social Security Scotland staff now make additional contact with clients at the initial decision stage. While this may add to overall processing times, it will help ensure that such information is available first time round.

The Scottish Government’s ambition, shared with COSLA, is for a trauma-informed workforce and services across Scotland. Since 2018, we have invested over £6 million in a National Trauma Training Programme, which provides freely available, evidence-based trauma training resources developed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and informed by experts by experience.

A trauma-informed approach has been incorporated into all learning plans for Social Security Scotland colleagues including recoveries officers. In addition to this, all recoveries officers undertake bespoke learning on understanding the potential impact of bereavement and having sensitive conversations. Specialist training in relation to vulnerability and debt collection has also been commissioned from Money Advice Scotland.

As of January 2023, there were around 319,000 people in Scotland receiving Personal Independence Payment according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Case transfer is a joint programme with the Department for Work and Pensions. We are relying on DWP to provide us with the right information at the right time and our top priority is maintaining a transfer that is both safe and secure. We continue to aim to complete case transfer for all people in Scotland who receive disability and carer benefits by the end of 2025.

Following the devolution of the Debt Advice Levy to Scottish Ministers in 2019, the Scottish Government commissioned the Improvement Service to undertake research into different potential funding models for debt advice. This work has only recently been completed and we will now carefully consider these findings alongside wider evidence, to determine whether any changes are required to future funding arrangements.

The Scottish Government recognises the benefits magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) could provide to eligible patients with essential tremor.

The Scottish Government has not carried out an assessment of MRgFUS for the treatment of essential tremor.

We understand the University of Dundee and Ninewells hospital continue to run a MRgFUS service for essential tremor on a trial basis. It is imperative that before any new procedure is adopted into the NHS, it is first subject to rigorous clinical assessment to establish patient safety and efficacy. The trial in Dundee will help contribute to the building evidence base for the treatment.