Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group minutes: February 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Co-chair: Tressa Burke, CEO, Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA)
• Co-chair: Elma Murray CBE, Chair, Young Scot
• Rachel Gallagher, Strategy and Development Manager, Clydebank Asbestos Group 
• Phyllis Craig, Director, Action on Asbestos 
• Anna Ritchie-Allan, Executive Director, Close the Gap 
• Ian Tasker, CEO, Scottish Hazards 
• Ian MacCorquodale, Welfare Rights Manager, Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA) 
• Sholen Macpherson, Policy and Research Officer, Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) 
• Dr David Haldane, Consultant Occupational Physician, Faculty of Occupational Medicine Scotland 
• Rachel Thomson, Equality Officer, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) 
• Moira Escreet, Welfare Rights Officer, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG)
• Fiona McKee, Founder, The HR Practice
• Professor Ewan Macdonald OBE, Consultant Occupational Physician

No apologies

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice

• Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP
• Lauren Jeffries – Deputy Private Secretary

Scottish Government officials present

• Matthew Duff, Social Security Policy
• Risga Summers, Social Security Policy
• Shelley Smith, Social Security Policy
• Daniel Rennie, Social Security Policy

Items and actions

Welcome and Introductions

Co-Chairs welcomed members to the sixth meeting of the Employment Injury Assistance (EIA) Steering Group.

Approval of minutes from last meeting and update of work by Co-Chairs and officials to date

Members approved the minutes from the previous meeting and agreed to their publication on the Scottish Government web page for the group.
 
The group agreed to facilitate focus group sessions with their existing client networks to engage people with lived experience. The Co-Chairs are engaging with Citizens Advice Scotland who might be able to facilitate a session with people with experience of applying for and receiving support through the social security system, and to seek their views on Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)/EIA

The group have now identified 5 members to comprise a sub-group to take forward further work on international comparisons.

Members discussed their approach to inviting a panel of solicitors to the next meeting of the group, scheduled for 24 march, to provide insight into their work related to IIDB. 

It was noted that academic networks to access public and patient views could be an additional route for the group to engage people with lived experience.

An article from the European Trade Union Institute was shared on how gender bias shapes the recognition of occupational diseases in Spain. 

It was noted that there was a new Director for the Institute of Occupational Medicine. The Co-chairs suggested they reach out to offer a meeting. The group was asked to email any suggested topics for this meeting.

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice attendance

Opening Remarks

The Co-chairs welcomed the Cabinet Secretary to the group and invited her to address the group. 

The Cabinet Secretary thanked the Co-chairs for agreeing to chair the group and thanked the members for accepting her invitation to join the group.

The Cabinet Secretary recognised the extensive expertise and experience of shaping impactful policy, and of delivering for disabled and marginalised people, on the group.

The Cabinet Secretary said the establishment of this group was a significant milestone for the delivery of the last remaining devolved benefit in Scotland and reaffirmed that EIA can and should better meet the needs of people in Scotland than the current UK Scheme. 

The Cabinet Secretary acknowledged that the current Scheme provides vital support, and the potential for anxiety that change can cause people which is why safe and secure transfer of awards has always and will continue to be the Scottish Government’s priority.

The Cabinet Secretary also noted the need to update the Scheme, specifically noting gender, race and age disparities within the caseload. However, she made it clear that she does not expect the group to design EIA from scratch but wants the expertise and knowledge of group members to set a direction for policy development and to shape the Scottish Government’s approach to EIA in the longer-term.

The Cabinet Secretary acknowledged the way forward might not be one that has previously considered and that she is open to different approaches and delivery models. 

The Co-chairs thanked the Cabinet Secretary for her remarks and for recognising the complexities and the continuing commitment to safe and secure transfer.

Discussion

The Co-chairs invited members to share their reflections and to ask any questions to the Cabinet Secretary.

Members commended the Cabinet Secretary and Co-chairs for putting equality considerations at the centre of longer term reform for EIA.

The Cabinet Secretary re-iterated her emphasis on equalities and stated that this was at the heart of what the group is trying to address. 

Members asked if policy coherence alongside a preventative approach to occupational health and fair work on economic inactivity should be considered.

The Cabinet Secretary said it would be inevitable that discussions will touch on both devolved and reserved matters but this would be beneficial as there will be lessons to learn for both the UK and Scottish Governments. 

The importance of prevention was raised. It was noted that this was a key consideration of the group given the challenges in occupational health coverage in Scotland and impacts on economic inactivity. The Cabinet Secretary agreed that it made sense for the group to consider wider related issues, and that compensation through IIDB was only one part of the picture. 

The Cabinet Secretary spoke about the recent disabled persons take over event of Cabinet which included discussions about barriers to employment. She noted that the group had an opportunity to make recommendations that touched on a number of portfolios. 

The Cabinet Secretary’s commitment to protect current awards for clients of IIDB was welcomed. The Cabinet Secretary stated that the Scottish Government had prioritised protecting current benefit awards throughout the devolution of social security, and that this will apply to EIA as well.

The Co-chairs noted that the current system is highly medicalised which contrasts with the move towards a social model of disability in the implementation of disability benefits in Scotland to date. They noted the group are considering how to align their recommendations with the social model.

The Cabinet Secretary closed by further acknowledging the complexity of the work the group were undertaking, noting that IIDB is the most challenging benefit to devolve to date.   

Lived Experience discussion

The Co-chairs identified themes from the lived experience paper first circulated in November and re-circulated in advance of the meeting as a starting point to help frame the questions that will be put to participants at lived experience events. They recognised that the questions would need adapting depending on the background of participants and whether they receive IIDB.

Members agreed that it would be beneficial to ask for the thoughts and experience of young people. Members identified potential avenues within their client networks to pursue this.

Members asked officials when they would be expected to make a final report. Officials advised that summer 2026 is still the expectation. 

The group discussed the lived experience workplan and have asked for the content and timeline to be updated to reflect this discussion.

AOB and next meeting

Members agreed to hold the next meeting  at Social Security Scotland’s High Street office in Glasgow on 24 March.

Members discussed how the Industrial Injuries Scheme (IIS) interacts with other means-tested benefits and social care charges. Action on Asbestos agreed to produce a paper outlining this for the group to consider.

Co-chairs thanked members for their time and closed the meeting.

Actions

• Officials will continue to engage with members on lived experience engagement sessions. This will include speaking with trade unions and asbestos groups.
• Officials to organise meeting of international comparisons sub-group.
• Officials will invite law organisations to the next meeting.
• Officials will consider themes for the discussion with law organisations at the next meeting.
• Officials will update the Group workplan and Lived Experience workplan to reflect the discussion at this meeting.
• Co-chairs will contact Citizens Advice Scotland to identify any support they can provide with the request to facilitate a lived experience session.
• Co-chairs will contact the Director for the Institute of Occupational Medicine.
• Co-chairs will speak to Fair Work colleagues to discuss fair work policy which is currently under review and could help prioritise disabled people and the barriers they face when considering employment.
• Action on Asbestos will produce a paper for the next meeting detailing how IIS interacts with other benefits and will explain how passporting works.