Conclusion 60

Citizen’s Advice Scotland stated that to achieve a ‘no wrong door policy’ it would require: efforts to ensure that people receive information about other benefits they might be entitled to that are delivered by a different agency–for instance if someone is unable to work due to a health condition or disability, when making an application for Universal Credit, they should be notified by DWP that they may also be eligible for Scottish disability assistance, and vice versa by Social Security Scotland.133 Similarly, Kirsty McKechnie of the Child Poverty Action Group told us that data sharing amongst the agencies would be crucial in helping claimants in Scotland apply for and receive the money that they are eligible for and Nina Ballantyne, of Citizens Advice Scotland, specifically identified the need for ‘implicit consent for recognised agencies’134 which would help organisations, like Citizens Advice Scotland support their clients in dealing with the different agencies and ‘help make things a little smoother’.135 Neil Cowan from The Poverty Alliance suggested the need for ‘One-stop shops and colocation of services: that is the kind of approach that we need to avoid the kind of complexity that could arise.’136 Reducing the complexity for agencies who support people in poverty