Internal DWP review of the Social Security Advisory Committee 2023
Published 11 January 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/internal-dwp-review-of-the-social-security-advisory-committee-2023/internal-dwp-review-of-the-social-security-advisory-committee-2023
Introduction
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) completed an internal review of the Social Security Advisory Committee in 2023 as part of the Government’s Public Bodies Review Programme. This included a Self-Assessment and a small number of interviews with key officials and Committee members.
The feedback DWP received during the review was positive and the Department would like to express its thanks to the Chair and Committee members for their enthusiasm, dedication, commitment to their roles. The findings and recommendations set out below are intended to enhance and support the effective organisational arrangements already in place. There was no indication a full Independent Review is required at this stage.
Overview of the Social Security Advisory Committee
SSAC is an advisory NDPB sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), that provides advice to the secretary of state for work and pensions and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland on social security and related matters. The Committee also has a non-statutory role offering advice to HM Treasury ministers and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on tax credits, national insurance, child benefit and guardian’s allowance. SSAC was established by the Social Security Act of 1980.
SSAC’s functions are set out in the Social Security Administration Act 1992. These are:
1. To perform a mandatory scrutiny of the majority of proposed regulations relating to benefits administered by DWP, principally for the benefit of the secretary of state but also for parliament; and
2. To provide advice and assistance to the secretary of state, whether in response to a specific request or on the committee’s own initiative.
SSAC provides advice and assistance in a number of forms, including undertaking studies as part of their independent work programme, informally scrutinising draft regulations which are exempt from statutory scrutiny and commenting on draft guidance and communications produced by both DWP and HMRC.
SSAC consisted of 7 members, including the Chair, at the time of the review, with 5 vacancies; and is supported by a secretariat of four full time equivalents (FTE). The budget allocation for 2022/’23 was £350,000 and its funding is allocated by DWP.
The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2016 devolved aspects of the social security system to the Scottish parliament. This changed the context within which SSAC worked, because the committee does not have a remit to advise on those benefits under the direction of the Scottish government. The Scottish Commission on Social Security has been established to provide independent scrutiny of the social security system in Scotland.
Review process
SSAC was last reviewed in 2020. This review was led by Penny Higgins from the DWP’s ALB Partnership team and was conducted between August and September 2023. Evidence was collected from written material supplied by SSAC and the DWP’s ALB Partnership team, as well as interviews conducted with the SSAC Chair, SSAC members (current and former), key stakeholders, and civil servants including the DWP’s ALB Partnership division, Policy and Change areas and the SSAC secretariat.
Recommendations
The review makes seven, relatively small, recommendations in total. These are set out below, following a brief paragraph giving the context behind that recommendation.
The feedback we received was that not all stakeholders were clear on how far SSAC’s remit extended in terms of understanding the operational impacts of legislative change.
1. SSAC Secretariat to work with DWP partnership and policy areas to clarify SSAC’s remit as regards the operational delivery of legislative change.
Historically there had been a SSAC member in place who understands the benefit system in Scotland. All stakeholders agreed that this is an important role that now needs filling.
2. SSAC Secretariat and DWP partnership and public appointments teams to consider the membership of SSAC, including reinstating the reserved (by custom and practice) Scotland post to better understand the impacts of new legislation across all jurisdictions within the UK.
The current Secretariat lead is very well established in the role and has excellent oversight of the Committee’s work, but there is a possible risk to business continuity should the current post holder leave the post unexpectedly.
3. The Committee Chair and SSAC Secretariat to review business continuity arrangements and ensure appropriate succession planning arrangements are in place for the secretariat team.
A programme of activity is already underway to ensure standards of documentation and presentations at SSAC are of a consistently high quality. An SCS member presenting to the Committee clearly assists in the smooth passage of regulations through the scrutiny process, by ensuring Committee members are sighted on relevant strategic issues and by modelling behaviours which empower their teams to fully engage with SSAC as a trusted stakeholder.
4. SSAC Secretariat and DWP policy and legislation teams build on the effective engagement already underway to strengthen, and ensure consistency of, documentation presented to the Committee and ensure appropriate physical attendance at meetings. This should include implementing a requirement that the relevant SCS lead will attend SSAC meetings to present draft regulations.
Whilst maintaining the independence of SSAC to define its Independent Work Programme, it would seem sensible for there to be a yearly review of this with the minister responsible, so that SSAC and departmental priorities can, where appropriate, be aligned.
5. SSAC Chair to present and discuss the focus of the Independent Work Programme with SSAC’s sponsor minister on an annual basis ahead of the Ministerial ‘Chair’s letter’ being finalised and issued.
Currently, the Department is not required to refer draft legislation to the SSAC if it is within 6 months of primary legislation. However, for certain regulations it may be helpful and prudent for SSAC to be sighted on secondary legislative proposals that occur within this window. This can be helpful for the Department to ensure impacts have been fully considered, and for the Committee to be sighted at an early stage where further associated regulations may be referred to them later. The value of this extension to SSAC’s informal remit, and the impact on SSAC’s capacity and resource, will be keep under review by the SSAC Secretariat, DWP’s Legislation and Partnership Teams.
6. DWP Policy leads and SSAC Secretariat to discuss, on a case-by-case basis, whether it would be valuable to voluntarily refer regulations for informal scrutiny, that fall within six months of Primary Legislation.
Whilst there are regular keep in touch meetings scheduled at various levels between the Secretariat and Partnership team, it is proposed that an additional more formal quarterly meeting with a standing agenda would ensure that the Partnership team are fully sighted on all SSAC activity, and that SSAC is kept in touch with developments in the Department.
7. SSAC Secretariat and Partnership team to schedule formal, quarterly meetings to ensure both are sighted on relevant developments and priorities in SSAC and DWP.