Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025: partial business and regulatory impact assessment – 21 March 2025

7. Engagement completed, ongoing and planned

Social Security Scotland have undertaken a series of actions to ensure that recipients of Scottish Government benefits, who previously relied on tax credits, were aware of the need to move to UC to ensure they continued to receive those Scottish Government benefits. The fact that there has been no impact on take-up or caseloads during the ‘Move to UC’ period suggests that this has been successful.

Officials presented details of the Move to UC to the Benefit Take-up Stakeholder Reference Group in February 2024. This group includes representatives from Citizens Advice Scotland, CPAG, Age Scotland, COSLA, NAWRA, the Poverty Alliance, Maggie’s and others. No significant concerns were raised in relation to the planned closure of Tax Credits or Move to UC programme or the support that Social Security Scotland had put in place to support clients. A suggestion was put forward by some members of the group that communications from Social Security Scotland should be amended to include details of how clients could obtain independent advice around the change, which we immediately implemented.