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THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE ROLE AND REMIT Gill Saunders – Committee Secretary www.ssac.org.uk. WHAT IS THE SSAC?. Established in November 1980 It is an Independent Statutory Body, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions
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THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE ROLE AND REMIT Gill Saunders – Committee Secretary www.ssac.org.uk
WHAT IS THESSAC? • Established in November 1980 • It is an Independent Statutory Body, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions • It is the main UK advisory body on social security and related matters, such as links with the labour market and wider social welfare issues • The legislation governing SSAC is The Social Security Administration Act 1992 section 170 et seq and schedule 5
WHY THESSAC? • Some anachronisms of title and remit, but social security legislation underpins and drives the DWP’s programmes and services (New Deals, Work Focused Interviews, Direct Payments etc) • Social Security law is complex - SSAC is there to look both at the detail and at the broad picture. • The Committee is independent of Government, the Department and sectional interests.
MEMBERSHIP • The Committee has 14 Members: • The Chairman - Sir Richard Tilt • ‘employee’ representative • ‘employer’representative • Experience of disability • DSD NI • Members have a range of interests and expertise. They are appointed by the Secretary of State for 3 years (renewable) • Fees/exenpses are paid
RESPONSIBILITIES • Advises the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on a wide range of social security matters. • Has the power to scrutinise and report on proposals for social security secondary legislation. • The Committee offers advice in confidence to Treasury Ministers on Tax Credits. • Advises the Secretary of State on DWP’s public information strategy and products.
HOW SSAC WORKS • Programme of monthly meetings • scrutiny of proposals for regulations and presentations on work in progress in DWP and elsewhere, including stakeholder organisations • Other work done in Member’s own time - in particular the scrutiny of information products • Wide ranging programme of visits to operational sites, regular meetings with Ministers and senior officials
CURRENT ISSUES • The Annual report sets out current policy and operational issues and concerns • Balancing its independent work programme with the demands of the core ‘regulations’ business • Test running scrutiny of ‘6 months rule regs against the progressing Welfare Reform and Pension Acts • The future of the HMRC role • The future of the ‘public information’ role
THE SECRETARIAT Gill Saunders Ethna Hartnett Bob Elbert New Court, 48 Carey Street, London WC2A 2LS Tel: 020 7412 1510 Fax: 020 7412 1570 Email: ssac @dwp.gsi.gov.uk Website: http://www.ssac.org.uk