The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has appointed the following new members to the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC):
Fran Bennett
Joanne Cairns
Tom Clark
Sharon Wright
They will each be appointed for a 5-year term from 1 September 2025.
Confirming the appointments, DWP Minister of State, Baroness Sherlock OBE, said:
The new appointments bring an extensive wealth of knowledge and experience that will further enrich the Social Security Advisory Committee’s valued advice.
Dr Stephen Brien, SSAC Chair, said:
These appointments will bring an impressive mix of skills, insight and diversity of view to our work on a broad range of issues that affect most people in our society at some point in their lifetime. I look forward to working with them on these important issues.
About the Committee
Established in 1980, the Social Security Advisory Committee is an independent statutory body. It provides advice to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on proposals for the amendment of secondary legislation and on general social security matters.
The Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates all appointments made to SSAC by the Secretary of State. All such appointments are made in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.
SSAC members receive a daily fee of £256.80, for a time commitment of 2 to 3 days a month.
About the appointees
Fran Bennett
Fran is a social policy academic (now Emeritus Fellow at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford), with extensive experience working on poverty, social security and gender issues. She has worked for the Child Poverty Action Group and Oxfam and as an independent consultant.
Fran has been appointed from 1 September 2025 to 30 August 2030.
Joanne Cairns
Joanne is Head of Research and Policy at USDAW, with over 20 years of experience in employment rights and collective bargaining. She has worked extensively on Universal Credit, the cost-of-living crisis.
Joanne has been appointed from 1 September 2025 to 30 August 2030.
Tom Clark
Tom is Principal Editor at the Resolution Foundation and a contributing editor at Prospect magazine. He has previously been chief leader writer at The Guardian, a Joseph Rowntree Foundation Fellow, and has held senior advisory roles at DWP working with Secretaries of State.
Tom has been appointed from 1 September 2025 to 30 August 2030.
Sharon Wright
Sharon is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Glasgow and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She researches lived experiences of UK and Scottish social security, including women and welfare conditionality, Universal Credit, migrant essential workers and the disability employment gap.
Sharon has been appointed from 1 September 2025 to 30 August 2030.
Social Security Advisory Committee
7th Floor Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9NA
Email: ssac@ssac.gov.uk
Committee Secretary: 0300 046 0323
