Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: data protection impact assessment - updated April 2025

4. Consultation

4.1 Have you consulted with the ICO using the Article 36(4) form?

An Article 36(4) form was sent to the ICO prior to publication of the consultation in 2022 and an updated form was sent in August 2023. The Scottish Government has engaged with the ICO and addressed their feedback.

4.2 Do you need to hold a public consultation and if so has this taken place? What was the result?

The Scottish Government is clear that requiring information be provided for the purposes of audit is high priority, fundamental to the functioning of the Scottish social security system and aligns with the practice of other government departments. At Stage 2 provisions were amended into the Bill that Scottish Ministers must consult publicly before making regulations under section 87B(5) on the categories of individuals who are not to be requested to provide information. Stakeholder engagement will take place around the processes put in place by Social Security Scotland when implementing reviews for audit purposes.

4.3 Were there any Comments/feedback from the public consultation about privacy, information or data protection?

As above the Scottish Government has not consulted in relation this power which is necessary to allow Social Security Scotland to fulfil its duties under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.