Our petition to Scottish Borders Council following changes to its Welfare Benefits Service was considered by the Audit and Scrutiny Committee in August.
The petition called on the council to ensure that the most vulnerable and deprived people in the Borders are not unfairly disadvantaged or face inequality of access to support services because of the redesign of the service.
It was the result of concerns raised by members, and particularly the Mental Health and Wellbeing Forum. Councillors agreed to formally refer the matter to the service director to advise on whether the petition’s demands, which were mainly on the measuring, reporting and mitigation of the changes could be implemented.
They also called for better consultation and communication in future.
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