Regulations subject to SSAC statutory scrutiny: 2023
Published 12 July 2024
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A detailed breakdown of the regulations subject to statutory scrutiny by the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) in 2023.
1. Statutory scrutiny of draft regulations
SSAC performs a mandatory scrutiny of most of the complex regulations that underpin the social security system on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland, and also for the benefit of Parliament. Its role is to support the departments in ensuring that its secondary legislation is of high quality and that it delivers the policy intent of Ministers. The full remit of the Committee is set out in the Social Security Administration Act 1992.
The Committee also scrutinises social security legislation brought forward by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in accordance with a Memorandum of understanding, and these are also included in the Regulations subject to SSAC scrutiny: 2023 table (table).
During the scrutiny process, the Committee will consider the proposals from a range of perspectives including:
- whether the policy objective is clear and whether the regulations deliver that
- have the consequences of the proposals been analysed and understood
- have relevant interested parties been consulted
- have equality impacts been properly considered
- the degree to which the practicalities of implementation have been considered
- how the proposals intersect with the wider social security system
- whether there are likely to be unintended consequences
The scrutiny of draft regulations usually takes place at one of the Committee’s regular meetings, with appropriate officials from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), HM Revenue and Customs and/or the Department for Communities (Northern Ireland), presenting the proposals and answering any questions the Committee may have.
2. Information provided in the table
The table provides a comprehensive list of the regulations that have been presented to SSAC for scrutiny in 2023, and is designed to signpost interested parties to relevant documentation from that process. For example, links are provided in the table to:
- the final version of the Statutory Instrument (regulations)
- the minutes from the Committee’s scrutiny sessions
- any subsequent exchanges of correspondence with officials and ministers
The table also indicates whether the proposals have been subject to:
- ‘postal clearance’
- the ‘urgency’ provision
- ‘formal reference’
2.1 Postal clearance
In some circumstances, the Committee may agree to consider regulations by correspondence. This only applies to very straightforward and non-contentious regulations, or to those of a minor and technical nature.
2.2 Urgency provision
Sometimes regulations need to be made urgently. In such cases the Secretary of State may decide that it would be inexpedient to first submit a draft of those regulations to the Committee for statutory scrutiny before they are laid. Nonetheless, these regulations are still subject to the statutory scrutiny of the Committee after they have been laid, and we would normally expect them to be presented to SSAC’s next available meeting. Regulations made under the urgency provisions remain subject to ‘formal reference’ if the Committee concludes that is appropriate.
2.3 Formal reference
During the scrutiny process, the Committee may take the view that statutory formal reference of the regulations is necessary to enable a closer examination of the proposals to be undertaken and that collection of evidence and insight through a public consultation exercise would be beneficial.
At the end of this process, the Committee submits its advice to the Secretary of State in the form of a report. The Secretary of State is obliged by law to respond to any recommendation contained in that report. The government’s response must include a statement showing the extent to which the Secretary of State has given effect to the Committee’s recommendation(s) and, if any are rejected, the reason or reasons why.
If the Secretary of State decides to lay the regulations, SSAC’s report must be laid before Parliament alongside the statutory instrument. If the regulations have already been laid using the ‘urgency’ provision, there remains an obligation to present SSAC’s report and the government’s response to Parliament.