Chamber and committees

Asylum, refugee and immigration policy is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of support and accommodation to people seeking asylum if they would otherwise be destitute while awaiting a decision on their asylum application and No Recourse to Public Funds restrictions on people who are subject to immigration control, including people seeking asylum, which means they may not be permitted to access social security benefits.

The Scottish Government has raised digital access concerns with the UK Government relating to people seeking asylum who are accommodated and supported by the Home Office. We have called for the Home Office to reflect the cost of digital connectivity in the support they provide, as it is increasingly important in ensuring people can access support services, legal advice and information, as well as report asylum accommodation or support issues.

The Scottish Government is designing our social security service so that as many people as possible, including people seeking asylum, refugees and other minority communities, understand what Social Security Scotland do, can communicate with Social Security Scotland and can access services in the way they want to. Our social security service is inclusive by design, with specialist support such as interpretation available where necessary for those who need it.

To help provide support to people who may be eligible for benefits, Social Security Scotland offers a range of channels for people to make an application for any of the benefits they provide. These are online, by phone, by post or face to face. Where interpreters are required, these will be provided for every channel of application and at every stage.

Work to embed an inclusive communication approach across everything that Social Security Scotland does continues.

Social Security Scotland currently has the following capability in place to support inclusive communications:

• Language Translation and Interpretation: services cover the production of translations into over 100 languages, Braille, Audio, Large Print and Easy Read formats. Interpreter-assisted calls are available to people who call the helpline, enabling people to apply over the phone in any of over 100 languages. The services also cover face to face language interpretation. Information on benefits is proactively translated into 11 languages used in communities across Scotland, including Urdu, Polish and Gaelic. Key materials have also been translated into Ukrainian and Russian to help refugees and displaced people access benefits. Translated information on all of Social Security Scotland's benefits can be accessed via the stakeholder resources section of the website.
• All letters, information and guidance are available in Braille, large print, Easy Read and various audio formats.
• Online content follows the Scottish Government's accessibility design standards. It is compatible with screen reader software on Jaws, Voiceover and Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) platforms.
• Deafened and Hearing Impaired Community: As part of support of the Scottish Government National BSL Action Plan, current provision has been reviewed and, with stakeholder input, a new specification of requirements for providing services for this community has been drafted. A British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service will soon be available through Contact Scotland.

Further actions are also being taken to improve service capability in support of inclusive communication. These include work to ensure that Social Security Scotland has the appropriate support and services in place to support clients with Cognitive and Learning impairments.