Recommendation 136

We heard that not enough claimants know about the Choices and that this has meant that their uptake is lower than what it could be. Neil Cowan from The Poverty Alliance mentioned in evidence that their research showed that claimants ‘did not know that they could take up their choices, they were not aware of it, so there is obviously some work to do around increasing awareness of the flexibilities.’331 This was echoed by Marion Davis of One Parent Families Scotland who said that the Scottish Choices were hindered by ‘a lack of awareness and understanding around [Scottish Choices]’332 by claimants. Our own survey, (whilst not being representative as the respondents were self-selecting), also highlighted this issue. 63 of the respondents said they claimed Universal Credit and despite Scottish Choices being an option for all of these people only nine respondents said they knew what they were.333