Would £10 solve your financial challenge this Christmas? Would an extra 25p a week take the pressure off your cost of living? Do you think you could find somewhere to rent if rents keep going up but your rent allowance …
Few challenges facing the country are more significant than ensuring our social security system provides the right support for people with disabilities and severe or chronic health conditions, supporting them to live independently and, for those who are able, to …
I’ve been a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) for around ten years, having previously been a policy director in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Last week I was pleased to see that DWP had agreed …
It is not uncommon that the Social Security Advisory Committee's recommendations, while not wholly accepted at the time they are made, feature in some shape or form in policy announcements in the years that follow. The Secretary of State for …
I joined the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) in January 2025 and it is an extremely rewarding role. We get involved in many aspects of the welfare system, not just scrutinising secondary legislation but receiving updates on various aspects of …
The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) is an independent statutory body which provides exactly that when it comes to social security and related matters under the remit of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Department for …
I joined the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) in 2014 as an academic with twenty years research and teaching expertise in social security law, alongside ten years as Executive Director of the Law Centre Northern Ireland. While all of this …
I grew up in a first-generation immigrant household, and having experiences of homelessness and disability within our family, we were supported by social security benefits which provided a stepping stone out of poverty, but also demonstrated to me some of …
I never had a misspent youth. As a student I spent my Saturday mornings volunteering on a Durham market stall containing (then) DHSS[1] leaflets, answering basic queries and offering appointments for more complex issues. Not knowing what I wanted to …
“If at first you don’t succeed…” I first applied to join the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) just after my 6th child was born. I was previously a Senior Civil Servant in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit and worked on …
A bit of a benefits nerd, I’ve been in welfare rights pretty much all my working life. I started as an adviser - first at Citizens Advice in London, moving on to Springfield psychiatric hospital and then Bristol City Council …