Chamber and committees

You raise some important points, Mr Griffin, particularly on security in relation to an individual’s residential address. Perhaps Tony Romain can shed some light on that point with regard to discussions with stakeholders during the review.

Thank you for your patience, Mr Briggs. I think that the page numbers in our papers must be different.

I will bring in Tony Romain to talk about the background and engagement with stakeholders, but I think that this is about ensuring appropriate consideration of the institution’s integrity. I take your point, though, about the need for political debate and discussion about performance and everything else. A balance has to be struck here. There will be members of staff working for councillors who are not at an appropriate level for criticism in the public domain, and a lot of this is about taking their wellbeing into consideration.

I appreciate the nature of the question and the need to ensure that councillors can contribute in a way that helps the wider consideration of matters and uses their experience. However, I am sure that you will appreciate the need to balance that with the consideration of maintaining public trust by ensuring that there is no undue influence.

I will bring in Tony Romain again, because he led the engagement with stakeholders throughout the consultation process, including while my predecessor was in post. The revisions to the code are about ensuring that considerations around declarations of interest are clear not just for councillors, but for members of the public. Tony can give us some insight into the considerations during the process.

Section 5 is drafted and laid out in such a way that it makes clear the three different aspects that Tony Romain mentioned. I hope that that will be clear for councillors.

I am sorry, Mr Briggs, but what do you mean by “point 24”?

I hope that that gives you the reassurance that you are looking for, Mr Griffin.

What sort of clarity do you mean?

In the redrafted code, section 6 has been shortened to make it easier for users. I appreciate your point that there will often be discussion in the community or public discourse that the councillor will be aware of but they cannot engage directly with stakeholders, whether that is the applicant or, for example, a community campaign that is in opposition. As Mr Coffey will appreciate, planning issues can be sensitive, given the nature of the decision that is being made. It is clear both in the code and in a councillor’s engagement with the code that they must be able to make a quasi-judicial decision that has not been influenced.

I think that the drafting is clear. If the committee thinks that it needs further consideration, I can take that point away. However, I encourage the committee to agree to the code as drafted today. Again, Tony Romain might want to add to what I have said, given his engagement throughout the process.

The service commits to giving people the advocacy support that they need, where and when they need it. That is in the contract.

I am pleased to be here to talk about our new social security advocacy service standards. I am also pleased to confirm—as I have done in writing to the committee—that, following a regulated procurement process, we have now awarded the first four-year contract for the provision of an independent advocacy service, as required by the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. I will provide a little more detail on that shortly.

First, I will give a brief overview of the amendment that is sought by the Social Security (Advocacy Service Standards) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021. The social security advocacy service standards set out the standard of service that independent third-party organisations are required to provide on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The current advocacy service standards, which were published in January 2020, restrict providers to the use of individual instructed advocacy. Such advocacy is where the individual is able to directly communicate to the advocacy worker what outcomes they want, as well as the actions that they would like to be taken. Through extensive consultation with stakeholders on our advocacy short-life working group, which included the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance, Citizens Advice Scotland and several independent advocacy providers, it became clear to us that removing the restriction to instructed advocacy in the service standards would increase the scope of the service and build on our human rights-based approach by making the service more widely accessible.

Such an amendment to the service standards was therefore suggested by stakeholders in the advocacy sector, and it enjoys the unanimous support of the members of the advocacy short-life working group. We are pleased to respond to that suggestion by bringing the proposed amendment before the committee today. Crucially, it will allow providers to offer non-instructed advocacy, which is an holistic approach whereby the advocate combines alternative methods of communication with observations of the client and their situation, and information from significant others in the client’s life.

That leads to a more person-centred approach in which providers are able to offer the forms of advocacy that are most appropriate to each client according to their circumstances. That will increase the scope of the service, reduce any potential for confusion and avoid potentially inconsistent outcomes. I am sure that the committee agrees that that is a positive step towards providing a more inclusive service and helping disabled people to access social security.

The service standards are designed to be applied in practice. I wrote to the committee yesterday to provide an update on delivery of the independent advocacy service and the organisation that will be responsible for implementing the standards. As I mentioned, we have now concluded the regulated procurement process to appoint a national supplier, and I am delighted to say that we will work with VoiceAbility to fulfil that vital role. VoiceAbility is a charity with 40 years’ experience of delivering independent advocacy services. It brings a deep knowledge of the sector and a wealth of experience in supporting people with disabilities to get the outcomes that they deserve.

VoiceAbility’s delivery model promises a number of positive impacts for the people of Scotland, including commitments to establish a new base and bespoke training centre in Glasgow; create up to 100 new jobs and three apprenticeships as devolved benefits are introduced; have a clear presence in all health boards at launch; recruit 75 per cent of its workforce from people who are long-term unemployed or economically inactive; sign the Scottish business pledge; and pay at least the real living wage.

That is an important step in the delivery of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 and a substantial contract award, with the Scottish Government committing to investing £20 million in the service over the next four years.

I am happy to provide any further information on the matter that would be of value to members.