Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Rejected
Significant disparity in staff satisfaction between Department and Social Security Scotland.
Conclusion
We asked the Department about how it measured the quality of benefit decisions, why it did not publish more information on the performance of contractors given the potential impact of their decisions on the lives of claimants, and about difference in satisfaction levels between the Department and Social Security Scotland. Social Security Scotland is starting to manage a wider range of benefits in Scotland, including a PIP replacement benefit – the adult disability payment. The most recent annual civil service employment survey shows that staff at Social Security Scotland generally view how it is operating more positively compared to the Department’s staff. For example, the leadership and managing change theme for the Department in 2022 is 49.9 compared to Social Security Scotland of 67.4, a 17.5 percentage point difference.28 The Department told us that it worked closely with colleagues in Social Security Scotland and that it intended to learn from it given that Social Security Scotland was “trying different things” in how it administered a similar benefits system.29 Working with contractors
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly disagrees with the committee's implied recommendation regarding publication of information on contractor performance. It states it has published the first of a new series of HTP MI, which will continue quarterly, and will keep under review what data can be published on existing providers.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 6.2 On 19 December 2023, the department published the first in a new series of HTP MI. Publication of this MI will continue quarterly in line with the PIP Official Statistics release schedule. 6.3 This release includes monthly information on the number of referrals to the Health Transformation Area (HTA). As the programme and underlying data systems mature, the department will be able to evolve this publication to report against KPIs and underlying performance metrics. 6.4 Health assessments are conducted on the same legislative basis and same clinical standards across providers. The department will keep under review what data can be published on performance of the existing providers and is currently designing the publication strategy for when new FAS contracts are in place from Autumn 2024. 6.5 The department already publishes overturn rates at Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) and appeal in the PIP Official Statistics and will look to include equivalent measures within future HTP statistical publications once the service is suitably developed and robust, and where publishing will provide a representative picture of the HTP’s progress.