Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group minutes: November 2025

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)
• Professor Ewan Macdonald OBE, Consultant Occupational Physician
• Dr David Haldane, Consultant Occupational Physician, Faculty of Occupational Medicine Scotland
• Rachel Thomson, Equality Officer, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC)
• Fiona McKee, Founder, The HR Practice

No apologies

Scottish Government officials

• Matthew Duff, Social Security Policy
• Risga Summers, Social Security Policy
• Shelley Smith, Social Security Policy
• Mimi Nicholls, Social Security Policy

Items and actions

Welcome and Introductions

Co-Chairs welcomed members to the fourth meeting of the Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group.

Fiona McKee Founder of The HR Practice was formally welcomed by the Co-Chairs to the 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.

Officials provided an update on securing a representative from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) for the group. 

Co-Chairs talked through the action log and issues register and members agreed to keep the Terms of Reference action open under review. Co-Chairs requested the issues log to be an agenda item for the December meeting.

An update was provided by Close the Gap to advise their paper will be published in the coming weeks and will be circulated to the group after this.

Co-Chairs updated members that Professor Gillian Leng, the current Chair of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), will be attending the meeting in December.

Co-Chairs advised they will be meeting with the Cabinet Secretary to provide an update on the work of the group so far and hope that the Cabinet Secretary will attend a future meeting, provisionally February.

Officials asked members to consider how the group and secretariat can gather missing data on equalities. 

Co-Chair Elma Murray advised she met with officials and Phyllis Craig from  Action on Asbestos to discuss engaging lived experience.

Lived experience paper

Co-Chairs invited members to discuss the lived experience paper and the way the group will take this forward. 

Co-Chairs and members discussed the importance of considering the experiences of those who currently receive the benefit and those who are not eligible. It was agreed that this should be the approach and member networks can help facilitate this work. 

Members agreed that it would be beneficial to contact trade unions by letter to request help reaching people with lived experience of industrial injuries, including those who are not currently eligible. Officials agreed to action this. Co-Chairs stated they would reach out to other contacts to see if they could facilitate engagement. 

Concerns were raised regarding the proposed timing of engaging lived experience due to their members having limited availability towards the end of the year.

Members agreed to update the timescales within the paper to reflect engagement taking place around February/March 2026.

Members raised concerns around the impact the timescales of engaging lived experience could have on final reporting. Officials advised that if more time was required post-election for the group to report then this can be considered.

Current process for prescription of conditions and occupations and overview of IIAC

Officials gave an overview of IIAC and Co-Chairs discussed what the group may want to ask Professor Gillian Leng at the meeting in December. 

Members are in support of a Scottish version of IIAC and discussion centred around the cost of this. Members noted that they would like to see a research function included.

Officials gave a presentation on conditions and other areas not currently covered by the scheme.

The presentation and paper led to wide-ranging discussion on occupational health with members noting the long-term effects of being off work.

Discussion around rehabilitation and the impact this could have on other workstreams. Members discussed prevention and risk assessments. Some members noted that risk assessments are carried out to varying degrees and that enforcement has been pulled back significantly.

International comparisons 

Officials gave a presentation on international comparisons.

Co-Chairs and members discussed the variety of different models including insurance-based schemes and social security systems. Members discussed the highly regarded insurance-based scheme in New Zealand which has a no fault compensation and no apportion of blame. Aspects of the Netherlands model were also praised.

Members agreed that it would be beneficial to compare the social security models used in the countries discussed to develop a better understanding. Co-Chairs invited members to volunteer to take forward case studies of individual countries with official support.

AOB and agree next meeting

Co-Chairs advised that the December meeting will be completely remote to account for weather conditions and to allow Professor Gillian Leng to join the meeting.

Co-Chairs requested officials to prepare a note summarising the group’s thinking to date.

Officials will organise invitations and papers will be sent out in advance of the next meeting.

Co-Chairs reminded members to respond to invitations as this helps with planning and capacity.

Actions

• update action log and issues register
• papers for future meetings to be numbered for ease
• share both presentations from meeting with members
• officials to update timescales in lived experience paper
• draft questions from Group for IIAC Chair in preparation for December meeting
• draft letter to trade unions to facilitate engaging lived experience
• prepare note summarising the group’s thinking to date
• contact networks and provide officials with any contacts for engaging with lived experience
• members interested in looking at international comparisons to express their interest via email to officials