Recruitment and diversity practices in Social Security Scotland: FOI Review

Information requested

Original Request: 202500460773

Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I request the following information relating to recruitment and diversity practices at Social Security Scotland:

Request for information 1: Recruitment to Grade A4 and Above (Last Two Years):

a. The total number of people recruited to Grade A4 (or equivalent) and higher roles in the last two calendar years.

b. Of these appointments, how many identified as Black, Asian, or from other minority ethnic backgrounds (broken down by ethnicity if possible). (How many recruited were Black, Asian and people of colour) 

Request for information 2: Post-Anonymised Sifting Recruitment:

a. The total number of people recruited to Grade A4 and above since anonymised sifting practices were discontinued.

b. Of these, how many identified as Black, Asian, or from other minority ethnic backgrounds. (How many recruited were Black, Asian and people of colour)

Request for information 3: Ethnicity and Religion of Appointees:

For individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds appointed to Grade A4 and above in the last two years, please provide anonymised aggregated data on:

a. Their specific ethnic backgrounds.

b. Their religious affiliations (if recorded). 

Request for information 4: Hiring Manager Demographics (Last Two Years):

The number of hiring managers involved in recruitment processes over the last two years, broken down by:

a. White ethnicity.

b. Black, Asian, or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

Request for information 5: Ethnic Composition of Sifting Panels (Last Two Years):

The ethnic composition (e.g., White/BAME percentages or counts) of all sifting panels convened for recruitment processes in the last two years.

Request for information 6: Specific 2025 Recruitment Panels (TSO and Fraud & Error Roles): The ethnic composition of sifting panels used for the following 2025 recruitment exercises:

a. Team Support Officer (TSO) in Client Services and Planning (CSP).

b. Recovery Officers in Fraud and Error.

Request for information 7: Bias Mitigation Measures:

Details of measures implemented by Social Security Scotland to address unconscious and systemic bias in recruitment.

Response

Further to my email of 15 May 2025, I have now completed my review of our response to Question 6 of your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) which asked:

Specific 2025 Recruitment Panels (TSO and Fraud & Error Roles):

The ethnic composition of sifting panels used for the following 2025 recruitment exercises:

a. Team Support Officer (TSO) in Client Services and Planning (CSP).
b. Recovery Officers in Fraud and Error.

In your request for review of our response, you stated:

“I noted that Social Security Scotland has withheld some information relating to ethnic composition of sifting panels used for the recruitment Team Support Officers (TSOs) and Recovery Officers…to comply with the protection of personal data I am happy to accept an amended response where I am provided with the information whether any member of this panel was with BAME background or not. This will not only protect personal data of those involved but also provide me an insight whether Social Security Scotland is using a diverse panel or not."

I have concluded that the original decision should be confirmed, but with one modification.

The number of people involved in these two sifting panels is low. I have therefore determined that this does provide a risk of personal identification and that it was correct to have applied an exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information).

The Scottish Information Commissioners website contains guidance in relation to the exemption section 38 (personal information), FOISA exemptions | Scottish Information Commissioner.

In this guidance it explains that data relating to the data subject’s ethnic origin is classed as a special category of data. The processing of the special categories of personal data is subject to much tighter restrictions than other personal data.

If information falls into one of the special categories of personal data, it’s very unlikely that the information can be disclosed without breaching the UK GDPR/DPA 2018.

The guidance goes on to explain, “Article 9 of the UK GDPR only allows special category personal data to be processed in very limited circumstances…for the purposes of FOI, the only situations where it is likely to be lawful to disclose third party special category data in response to an information request are where, in line with Article 9 of the UK GDPR, the personal data has manifestly been made public by the data subject…any public authority relying on this condition must be certain that the disclosure was made with the intention of making the special category data public.”

As I am not aware that this information has been made public already by the data subjects involved, I stand by the decision that applying an exemption under section 38(1)(b) is correct.

I am modifying the response on review to provide you with some additional information.

There were 19 staff members involved in the sifting for these two roles with members of the BAME community represented. Across both campaigns combined the ethnic composition of staff was as follows.

White	10
Ethnic Minority	Between 1 and 5

A number of individuals did not declare their ethnicity.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.