6. To ask the Scottish Government what processes it has in place to identify and act upon any concerns raised by clients of Social Security Scotland to ensure that the system meets its aims of putting dignity, fairness and respect at the heart of all of its actions. (S6O-02313)

Treating people with dignity, fairness and respect is at the heart of Social Security Scotland’s approach. The social security charter sets out what people should expect from our system. Anything that is raised will be dealt with following Social Security Scotland’s compliments, complaints and suggestions process, which can be found on the mygov.scot website. If details have been provided, clients will be contacted. Social Security Scotland uses feedback from that process, alongside feedback from a client panel, as well as responses to regular surveys, in performance reporting to identify what needs investigation and action. It uses that to inform continuous improvement and business planning.

Constituents have raised concerns about long timescales for dealing with claims—up to 28 weeks in some cases—and about the process for interacting with professionals who provide support and evidence for claims. Concerns have also been raised about the treatment of applicants. That suggests that more work is required to ensure that the system fully meets its aims of ensuring dignity, fairness and respect.

I have written to the cabinet secretary with details of those issues, and I welcome her reassurance that there is a robust process in place to identify and address such issues at their root. I would welcome the opportunity to engage directly with Social Security Scotland on those matters.

I am very happy to receive case studies—with the client’s permission—from Mr McKee and other members in order to ensure that the agency learns from cases as they come in.

The average wait for adult disability payment is about four months. Some cases are taking longer than that and therefore longer than they should. I reassure the member that Social Security Scotland has undertaken significant work to speed up the decision-making process and that it is seeing a rise in the number of applications on which a decision is reached each week, while still holding firmly to the dignity, fairness and respect agenda.

There are several areas in which the agency is making improvements. I will be happy to provide further detail for Mr McKee when I receive his letter. I am sure that the agency would be happy to provide that detail directly to Mr McKee, too.

Does the cabinet secretary recognise that the current delays to benefit processing, especially of adult disability payment, are unacceptable? What has been done to ensure that decision times are met? The current standard does not meet the mantra of dignity, fairness and respect.

I covered a fair amount of that in my original answer, so I will perhaps give some specific examples while emphasising that people who are eligible for the payment will be paid from the date on which they applied.

I will give some examples of work that is going on. Social Security Scotland has introduced an additional measure to ensure that there is a quick phone call back to a client when an application has been made but extra information is needed, in order to avoid delays. The agency is also drawing on the expertise of in-house health and social care practitioners, who are now available to support case discussions earlier. That has had the direct result of allowing staff to reach decisions more quickly.

Those are just two of the many processes that have been put in place to speed up decision making. I agree with the member that it is taking too long. He has my assurance that the matter has my full attention, as I said when we discussed the matter previously.