Minister thanks Camphill Scotland

Camphill Scotland was delighted to play a major role in helping to shape and influence the Scottish Government’s Social Security legislation, which has now been passed by the Scottish Parliament.

Camphill Scotland and our partners, including Inclusion Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland and other organisations, worked closely with the Scottish Government, and with MSPs of all parties, to ensure that everyone with a disability, including a learning disability, will have the right to advocacy support when seeking assistance under the Scottish social security system.

In the debate on the amendments on independent advocacy support, the Minister for Social Security, Jeane Freeman MSP, said:

There are many groups to thank for getting us to this point, but I particularly single out Inclusion Scotland, Camphill Scotland and Disability Agenda Scotland for the hard work that they put in to help us refine our position on advocacy support so that we are in a much better place than we were at stage 2 of the Bill.

Unique and transformational amendments

Along with Inclusion Scotland and Citizens Advice Scotland, Camphill Scotland was also part of a small alliance led by the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists which secured a transformational change in relation to the use of inclusive communication, and accessible information. The new duty is considered to be unique in legislation across the UK.

Camphill Scotland also worked with Inclusion Scotland and other partners to secure a number of other significant changes to the legislation, including:

1. The setting up of the Scottish Social Security Commission, which will provide independent scrutiny of legislative proposals relating to social security matters, and provide independent advice to the Scottish Government and to the Scottish Parliament about such matters.
2. Ensuring that the new Commission will scrutinise social security regulations to check they are in keeping with the Scottish social security principles.
3. Ensuring that those seeking assistance under the legislation will always be paid benefits in cash unless they opt otherwise.
4. Ensuring the Scottish Social Security Charter is subject to parliamentary scrutiny.