The future of social security in Scotland: views from inside the system.

Public Commercial Services Union; Spicker, Paul

Abstract

The report is based on group interviews and questionnaires done earlier this year with 228 DWP officers. This is not the first report ever to ask social security officers what they think, but it's a rare and rather special event. The officers generally showed an acute and detailed understanding of current problems in the benefit system, and expressed their frustration that they were not being permitted to set things right when they could. They complained about constant micro-management, with inadequate staffing levels, poor training and failing IT systems. Many of them wanted to be able to provide a more personal service, following people's cases through from start to finish.

Citation

PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES UNION and SPICKER, P. 2017. The future of social security in Scotland: views from inside the system. Glasgow: PCS [online]. Available from: https://www.pcs.org.uk/sites/default/files/site_assets/regional_websites/scotland/2017/FSS_Scotland_FINAL.pdf

• Report Type: Research Report
• Online Publication Date: Oct 6, 2017
• Publication Date: Nov 30, 2017
• Deposit Date: Mar 23, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 23, 2018
• Publisher: Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
• Keywords: Scottish Government; Scottish Parliament; Social security; Benefits; Welfare
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2822
• Publisher URL: https://www.pcs.org.uk/sites/default/files/site_assets/regional_websites/scotland/2017/FSS_Scotland_FINAL.pdf