Appointment of Regius Professor of Civil Law: 31 March 2022

Press release

The Queen has approved that Professor Helen Scott, Professor of Private Law at the University of Oxford, be appointed Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Cambridge.

The Queen has approved that Professor Helen Scott, Professor of Private Law at the University of Oxford, be appointed Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Cambridge, in succession to Professor David Ibbetson.

Professor Helen Scott holds the title of Professor of Private Law at the University of Oxford. She studied law and Latin at the University of Cape Town completing her DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2005. She later spent a decade at the University of Cape Town during which time she was appointed full professor.

In 2017 Helen returned to England, taking up a tutorial fellowship at Lady Margaret Hall as well as a titular professorship in the Oxford Law Faculty.

Her research concerns South African and English doctrinal law as well as Roman law and legal history, and spans a wide range of subject matter: not only the law of unjust/unjustified enrichment and tort/delict, but also the wider law of obligations and property and trusts.

Published 31 March 2022

Household Support Fund doubled to help most vulnerable tackle cost of living

Household Support Fund doubled to £1 billion with £500 million of new funding, as government goes further to support families with cost of living
Six-month extension will help most vulnerable households deal with rising cost of essentials
People can continue to access support through their Local Authority, ensuring those most in need get the help available

Today’s bolstered fund will continue to target the most vulnerable households and individuals, having helped thousands of families since its launch in September.

A third of the funding will be ring-fenced to support families with children, while another third will be dedicated to pensioners. This ensures the people who need it most will continue to receive vital support to meet essential household costs.

Using their local knowledge, Local Authorities will determine how to best use the remainder of the fund within the scope set out by ministers. Previous funding has supported households with food, clothing, energy and water costs, and this extension will ensure that this support continues through to the autumn.

Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said:

We have always provided help to those who need it and extending this fund is another commitment to support people with the cost of living.

We know the pressures many are currently facing, especially pensioners and families with children, which is why this fund targets support to the most vulnerable households across the country.

Of the £500 million, the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula. This brings the total Household Support Fund allocations for the devolved administrations to £82 million for the Scottish Government, £50 million for the Welsh Government and £28 million for the Northern Ireland Executive. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate this additional funding.

This fund is part of £22 billion of support provided in 2022-23 to help families with the cost of living and to ensure people keep more of their money. This includes changes to the Universal Credit taper rate and work allowances worth £1,000 extra on average for working families, and an increase in National Insurance thresholds. It also includes help for energy costs through a cut to fuel duty and the £9.1 billion Energy Rebate. And from tomorrow (1 April 2022), the National Living Wage will be rising to £9.50 an hour, providing a timely boost to the lowest paid.

If you want to find out what help is available in your area through the Household Support Fund, contact your local council. You can locate your council using the GOV.UK council finder.

Further information

The extension will run for six months to the end of September 2022, following on directly from the previous funding.

Media enquiries for this press release – 0115 965 8781

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Rules set for new digital functional skills qualifications

News story

Ofqual confirms how it will regulate new entry level and level 1 digital qualifications.

Ofqual has confirmed today how it will regulate new qualifications designed to assess the core digital skills needed for life and work.

It follows a consultation on Ofqual’s proposals for the regulation of these Digital Functional Skills qualifications (FSQs), which are being introduced by the Department for Education (DfE). They will replace the existing functional skills qualifications in Information Computer Technology (FSQs in ICT).

The qualifications will be available for teaching from August 2023, at entry level 3 and level 1. Ofqual will work with awarding organisations to ensure a smooth introduction.

Following the consultation, Ofqual has decided to implement all the proposals, which were well supported. They include:

setting a minimum weighting of 70% of marks to be achieved through the assessment of practical digital skills
assessments must be designed so they are authentic and relevant to today’s workplace and everyday life
assessments will be delivered on-screen and online, but paper-based assessment materials will be permitted in exceptional circumstances

Full details can be found in our consultation decisions document, Regulating Digital Functional Skills qualifications, and our regulatory frameworks.

Published 31 March 2022

The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022

In 2019 the Department for Work and Pensions started to move claimants in receipt of one or more of the following benefits to Universal Credit:

Working Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Income Support
Housing Benefit

The Covid-19 pandemic enforced a prolonged pause in this process, however we understand that it will resume during the course of this year. The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022 update the proposals for this process.

During its statutory scrutiny of these draft proposals, the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) concluded that one aspect in particular required closer examination and has, accordingly, decided to take the regulations on formal reference (Sections 172(1) and 174(1) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 refer).

The issue requiring further scrutiny relates to draft regulation 9, which has the effect of removing the cap on the number of migration notices (10,000) that could be issued to existing claimants on legacy benefits, and the associated commitment by former Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Amber Rudd, to report back to Parliament before proceeding further. The Committee believes that there is a need to further consider the potential consequences of such a change, and that greater clarity is required on how the process (at key points of the migration process) will be scrutinised, and what success measures are considered to be.

Committee Chair, Dr Stephen Brien:

A process to move around 1.7 million households, many with complex lives, onto Universal Credit from legacy benefits creates a significant risk for both those who are reliant on these benefits and also for the Department for Work and Pensions in delivering it. For the public to have confidence in this process and to minimise risk further consideration needs to be given to establishing appropriate independent oversight and scrutiny of the programme as it moves forward.

This formal reference report will therefore look closely at how best to provide a framework of oversight, reporting and scrutiny for an agile migration process which will be evolving iteratively over time. We intend to seek evidence from experts with experience of ‘agile’ management to help inform our advice to the Secretary of State.

The Committee’s earlier report on The Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018 is available alongside the government’s response. The Committee will be drawing on the findings of this report for the wider context of this work and is grateful to those who gave evidence for it. The Committee is of the view that the report recommendations continue to be relevant and so will not be revisiting issues raised within that report during the current formal reference process.

The Committee carried out a detailed scrutiny of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022 at their meeting of 8 December 2022.

More information

SSAC is an independent advisory body of the Department for Work and Pensions. The committee’s role is to give advice on social security issues; scrutinise and report on social security regulations (including tax credits) and to consider and advise on any matters referred to it by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions or the Northern Ireland Department for Communities.

The committee’s Chair is Dr Stephen Brien. Its membership comprises: Bruce Calderwood, Matthew Doyle, Carl Emmerson, Chris Goulden, Kayley Hignell, Philip Jones, Gráinne McKeever, Seyi Obakin, Charlotte Pickles and Liz Sayce.

Most social security regulations come before SSAC for scrutiny, the only significant exceptions being regulations which go to other advisory bodies or set benefit rates. When SSAC has considered regulations which it has asked to be formally referred, its response is made in the form of a report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. That report must be presented to Parliament when the regulations are laid with a statement from the Secretary of State showing what has been done (or is intended to be done) about the SSAC’s recommendations (section 174(1) and (2) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992).

Further enquiries should be directed to Denise Whitehead, Committee Secretary, on 020 7829 3354 or at ssac@ssac.gov.uk