“I am delighted to have been appointed as the new Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee,” said Natalie Don MSP.

Following the appointment of Elena Whitham MSP to the Scottish Government as Minister for Community Safety, Natalie Don MSP (Renfrewshire North and West) was appointed as the new Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee.

Natalie Don MSP, Convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Natalie Don MSP added:

“I would like to congratulate Elena for her appointment as a Minister in the Scottish Government and thank her for all her work as the previous Convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee.

“I am really looking forward to this new challenge, the committee has a wide remit and the decisions and investigations of this committee will have a real impact on the lives of many people in Scotland.

“This committee has recently produced some important work on poverty in Scotland including our ‘Robbing Peter to Pay Paul’ report, which looked at the challenges facing people with low incomes and debt problems.

“The committee has a number of inquiries ongoing including scrutiny of how new social security benefits such as the Adult Disability Payment are delivered by Social Security Scotland.

“I’m looking forward to working with colleagues on the committee to ensure that people centred policies are developed to make our country fairer and improve the lives of Scotland’s citizens. Dignity, fairness and respect must be at the heart of that.

The Social Justice and Social Security Committee was established in June 2021. It looks at subjects such as:

the Scottish Government's policies on welfare, poverty and homelessness
the social security system in Scotland
violence against women and girls and domestic violence
social justice (looking at ways to create a fairer Scotland)
third sector including social economy and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)