Social Security and Benefit take-up

What is happening in Scotland The Scottish Parliament will gain powers over 15% of current social security spending ultimately worth around £3.3 billion annually 1.4 million people are in receipt of the eleven benefits being devolved We will make our first payments in late summer 2018 and all benefits to be introduced within this parliamentary term (2021) Social Security (Scotland) Bill entering Stage 3 of parliamentary process Work underway to design service – taking Agile approach and working with Experience Panel (2,400 people with experience of the current benefits system.

Benefit take-up Social Security is a human right and people deserve to receive what they are entitled to. We have a clear commitment to do all we can to see incomes maximised, which is why we believe it is important that we support people to receive all the benefits to which they are entitled Making sure that everyone receives the financial support they are entitled to is one of the first steps towards putting dignity and respect at the heart of social security in Scotland 500,000 individuals or families in Scotland are currently not claiming all the benefits they are entitled to £300,000 spent by the Scottish Government last year to encourage benefit take-up 

Campaign overview: Aims Primary aim: Drive increased take-up of benefits Secondary aims: Establish the Scottish Government’s position/attitude Start reducing stigma Establish partnership approach to campaigns Start embedding key changes in language around benefits Prepare ground for devolved benefits and the new Scottish social security agency

Campaign overview: Structure and activity Mix of marketing and communication activity aimed at general public/all people and specific target populations 2017 activity and partners March: General public: Citizens Advice Scotland June and August: Young Carers: Young Scot, Carers Trust September: General public: CAS October: Older people (65+): CAS, Age Scotland

General public activity Aimed at all people across Scotland Partly to encourage people to find out what they’re eligible for Partly to establish key messaging around social security: ‘Get the help you’re entitled to’ ‘Find out if you’re eligible for this support’ ‘Social security is an investment in everyone and is there to help people when you need it’ ‘Changes in life circumstances and life events mean anybody could need support at some point in their lives’ ‘About 500k families and people in Scotland aren’t claiming the support they’re entitled to’

General public activity March and September, a week each time Advertorial and interviews on Bauer local radio network: 350 spots on 14 stations across Scotland Advertorial and supporting editorial in 100 local newspapers Directed to Citizen’s Advice Scotland helpline and webpage March figures: 437 calls (some in following week as local press gave it a tail) 4,070 visits to webpage (378% up on preceding week) 2.9% total increase in CABs’ business on preceding week September figures: 140 calls 1,428 visits to webpage (110% up on preceding week)

Young Carers Aimed at carers aged 16-24 Encourage them to apply for Carer’s Allowance Estimated 49,000 young carers in Scotland 7,000 are eligible for CA but less than 4,000 claim it Also raise profile of young carers and CA ahead of Carer’s Act and the new Young Carer Grant Two bursts, based around Carer’s Week in June and Young Carers’ Festival in August

Dedicated webpage on Young Scot site: www.young.scot/youngcarers

Young Carers Worked with Young Scot to create dedicated and permanent webpage, with videos, infographics, FAQs and links to support Also involved Carers Trust and Carers Scotland Included Facebook Live Q&A session between young carers and Aileen Campbell MSP at Young Carers’ Festival Results: Facebook: 245k reach Twitter: 1.73m reach Instagram Stories: 6.5k views Snapchat: 17k views

Older people Aimed at people aged 65 and older. Mainly aimed at C2DE socio-economic segments, but wider relevance to other older people and to proxy users (carers, relatives etc) Encourage them to find out which benefits and other support they may be entitled to and claim it Audience covers a range of benefits, so large coverage Pension Credit and Council Tax Reduction are key to reducing pensioner poverty in Scotland Only 60% of people eligible for Pension Credit claim it

Older people Advertising on television (STV and Channel 4 Scotland), national newspapers (daily and Sundays) and on 1,850 buses nationally Supported by publicity and partner toolkit Directed to new Citizen’s Advice Scotland helpline or to visit local CAB Supported by Age Scotland

Results Citizens Advice Scotland data shows that:   463 calls to the campaign national helpline were received – 17% over the target of 400 set for the campaign. When callers to the helpline were asked where they had heard about the advice line, responses centred on the TV advert (49%) and press adverts (48%). There were 44,087 visits to CAS benefits help webpages during the campaign period. For comparative purposes, this is a 27% increase on October 2016, the corresponding month the previous year. CAS has said that it is clear that the campaign has returned considerable gain in terms of maximising income for those clients where gain has been received. As at 9 Feb 2018, this number is now over £113,000, with Attendance Allowance by far the largest figure within this breakdown. Overall, the campaign has worked well, especially in terms of the central call-to-action of contacting CAS, with targets around phone calls over delivering by 17% and website visits increased by 27%.

Next steps Analysis of benefit take-up against poverty statistics to identify key targets Identifying measure of success Aligning campaign activity to service delivery Bringing together activities from across policy areas (including financial health check, advice service, local government and further powers) Partnership-led approach to next phases Political agreement with COSLA Insight into sphere of influence – local level vs national campaigning