We are Welfare Scotland

Welfare Scotland is a not for profit organisation working to promote the benefit of a fair and compassionate rights-based social security system which meets the needs of the people of Scotland. In addition to this, we provide a range of services to support disabled people, those who are chronically ill and the carers who support them.

Welcome to Scotland - Welfare Scotland

privacy policy

Effective Date: 5th September 2018

Welfare Scotland ("us", "we", or "our") operates the https://www.welfare.scot website (the "Service").

This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data.

We use your data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service and our website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions, accessible from https://www.welfare.scot

Information Collection And Use

We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our Service to you.

Types of Data Collected

While using our Service, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you ("Personal Data").

Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

Email address
First name and last name
Phone number
Address, postal code, city or town


Cookies and Usage Data

Usage Data

We may also collect information how the Service is accessed and used ("Usage Data"). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.


Tracking & Cookies Data

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information.

Cookies are files with small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Service.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

Examples of Cookies we use:

Session Cookies - We use Session Cookies to operate our Service.

Preference Cookies - We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.

Security Cookies - We use Security Cookies for security purposes.

Use of Data

Welfare Scotland Limited uses the collected data for various purposes:

To provide and maintain the Service,

To notify you about changes to our Service,

To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so,

To provide customer care and support,

To provide analysis or valuable information so that we can improve the Service,

To monitor the usage of the Service,

To detect, prevent and address
technical issues,

Transfer Of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside United Kingdom and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to Scotland within the United Kingdom and process it there.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

Welfare Scotland will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organisation or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

Disclosure Of Data

Legal Requirements

Welfare Scotland may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

To comply with a legal obligation,

To protect and defend the rights or property of Welfare Scotland,

To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service,

To protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public,

To protect against legal liability

We will only provide information to a court, the police or other authorities in exceptional circumstances and with the production of a legal order or other legal process. Unless we are explicitly ordered not to, we will advise you if we have had to do this. This doesn't apply if we have warned you about your conduct or behaviour towards our staff or volunteers and you persist in an abusive, aggressive or threatening manner.

Security Of Data

The security of your data is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. All pages on our website are served via 'https' and you will always see 'https' in the address bar on one of our websites. Our website is part of the Trusted Site scheme and you can verify this here

Service Providers

We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service ("Service Providers"), to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Service-related services or to assist us in analyzing how our Service is used.

These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Analytics

We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.

You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Service available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity.

For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: (https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en)

Links To Other Sites

Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services. That said however, if we link to a website which you causes you concern then please let us know.

Children's Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 16 ("Children").

We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 16. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our website homepage, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "effective date" at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

about us

We are a not for profit organisation working to promote the benefit of a fair and compassionate rights-based social security system which meets the needs of the people of Scotland. In addition to this, we provide a range of services to support disabled people, those who are chronically ill and the carers who support them.

We campaign for the development of a system which puts the needs of claimants and carers at its centre and a system which fully engages with claimants and carers through the design, implementation and the continual review of social security provision.

We believe that a fair and compassionate social security system will protect the most vulnerable in society and will work actively to reduce poverty and hardship. This caring system will promote community cohesion, lead to improved health and wellbeing and will ensure people are not left in destitution at a time of crisis and need.

essential elements for the new scottish social security system

Promoting the benefit of full involvement of disabled people, those who are chronically ill and their carers

We believe that disabled and chronic ill people have the best understanding of their needs and the the support they require in order to play their full part in a modern Scotland. We believe that the people who know the system best should be involved in the design of it.

Paid at a rate calculated in line with living costs and uprated annually in line with inflation

We believe that benefits should be calculated with consideration of living costs and should be uprated annually in line with inflation. Social security benefits paid to disabled and chronically ill people should meet the additional expense of being disabled and chronically ill and shouldn't leave the recipient out of pocket.

Restriction on the use of 'for profit' organisations to carry out core Social Security functions

We believe that involvement of the private sector should be limited from the outset. Core functions of the delivering agency should be delivered in-house with the private sector limited to non-decision making clerical or administration roles supporting agency staff.

Fairness, respect and compassion

We believe that the social security system and its application decisions must be fair, the delivering agency and its staff must put respect for the recipients and carers at its core and must act with compassion and understanding.

Photo Credit: Petr Macháček on Unsplash

contact us

In order to contact us please complete the form below and we will contact you by return. As we are a not for profit organisation, please don't add to our costs by sending unsolicited email messages. We never buy any products unsolicited and we will not reply to any such emails.

Please note: We are not the Scottish Welfare Fund, if your query relates to the Welfare Fund please call your local council switchboard and ask for the Scottish Welfare Fund Team.

While we prefer emails you can write to us at:

Welfare Scotland
Suite 11
115 Carstairs Street
Glasgow
G44 4JQ

We are a not for profit organisation and do not wish to receive unsolicited mail.

Please help us keep our costs down and do not sign us up to mailing lists unless we've specifically asked to receive it.

If we have assigned a caseworker to your case we will have provided you with their extension number in order to reach them directly. The main contact number for Welfare Scotland is 0141 280 9244.

our executive council

The management and activities of Welfare Scotland is overseen by the Executive Council which consists of members with expertise in a wide range of areas including HR, law, the community and voluntary sector, youth work and the benefits system. Although some members of the council represent specific areas of interest, all members are jointly involved in overseeing the management and development of the organisation as a whole.

Photo Credit: Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash

Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash

joining the executive council

What expertise or specific experience do I need in order to apply?

We would like to hear from those with a genuine interest and passion for equality, social justice and a real desire to change the welfare system in Scotland for the better. Your ability and desire to make a difference is not strictly measured or evidenced in the number of years board membership experience you have. If you have no board or committee experience but can demonstrate you have the desire and passion then we would love to receive your application. Please use the application form to provide us with as much information about your passion, experience and the reasons you want to join us.

What is the minimum period of time I need volunteer for?

New Members are expected to join for a minimum period of 12 months but we may look at shorter periods for students etc.

Can I apply to join the Executive Council if I have a criminal conviction?

Yes! Welfare Scotland is committed to ensuring applicants with criminal records aren't discriminated against. We believe that people make mistakes and as part of moving on with life, people should be given a chance and supported to move forward. We have a policy for dealing with applications from people with criminal records, you can read the policy here.

As part of the 'Ban the Box' initiative, Welfare Scotland does not ask for details of criminal convictions at application stage. If the role requires a criminal record check or is an exempted position which requires disclosure of all criminal convictions (spent and unspent) then this will be clearly indicated on the role profile.

Are members of the council paid?

No. Council members are volunteers and do not receive payment for their service other than the reimbursement of out of pocket expenses.

Why does the application form ask if I am disabled or have a disability?

We ask this question to ensure we have a broad balance of people involved in the organisation with experience of disability and to ensure any support you need can be provided. You do not need to provide this information if you do not wish to.

What age do I have to be in order to join the Executive Council?

All members need to be at least 16 years old as 16 is the minimum age to become a director of a company.

If you have difficulties completing the form and need some assistance or have any questions then please contact us

Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash

COmpliance hub

Requests for client information from police, courts or authorised public bodies (within the last 12 months):

Instances of information being provided in respect of above:

Instances of data protection laws being breached or private or confidential client information released to an individual or organisation with no right to receive it (within the last 12 months):

Photo Credit: Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash