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Administrative Appeals Chamber (Upper Tribunal)

The Administrative Appeals Chamber of the Upper Tribunal is a superior court of record, with UK-wide jurisdiction. It deals with appeals from the General Regulatory Chamber, the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber, the Social Entitlement Chamber and the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. It also deals with first appeals from decisions of the Independent Safeguarding Authority and of the Traffic Commissioners, and with appeals from some decisions of tribunals in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Upon its establishment on 3 November 2008 it took over the work of the former Social Security, Child Support and Pensions Appeal Commissioners, who dealt with appeals on points of law from Social Security, Child Support and Pensions Appeal Tribunals. The site has information, guidance and downloadable forms. It also provides access, via a link to the Judiciary web site, to decisions 1991 onwards for England & Wales and Scotland (and to some earlier decisions), and also to decisions 1973 onwards (and a very small number of earlier ones) of the separate Northern Ireland Commissioners.

Department for Social Development

The Department for Social Development (DSD) is part of the Northern Ireland Executive. The "Law and Legislation" section of the DSD's site includes case law of the Social Security Commissioners and Child Support Commissioners for Northern Ireland 1972 onwards, via the NIDOC case law digest  maintained by the DSD's Decision Making Services. Electronic versions of Northern Ireland's "Blue Volumes" and "Orange Volume", containing collections of current social security and child support legislation, are also available. 

Department for Work & Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for employment, social security and pensions in the UK. Content here on the GOV.UK site includes press releases, recent consultation documents and many other publications. The previous http://www.dwp.gov.uk/ continues to hold the following: the Decision Makers' Guide, the Social Fund Guide and other technical guides and manuals aimed at advisers and other professionals. The old site also has collections of current legislation on social security (commonly known as the 'Blue Volumes') and child support (the 'Orange Volumes'), reported decisions of the Social Security and Child Support Commissioners and Upper Tribunal Judges1991 onwards, and Neligan's Digest of reported social security decisions.

European Commission: Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

This is the web site of the European Commission's Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, which is concerned with employment and social policy within the EU, including anti-discrimination measures. The "Document Database" includes links to legislation, consultation documents, newsletters, recent news and other documents from 1990.

Independent Case Examiner

The Independent Case Examiner investigates complaints made by service users of various government agencies and businesses including the Child Support Agency, the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency, Jobcentre Plus, the Pension, Disability and Carers Service, the Financial Assistance Scheme, Debt Management and Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division (Northern Ireland). The site provides information on the complaint procedure, forms, and annual reports 2000/2001 onwards.

Independent Review Service for the Social Fund

The Independent Review Service carries out independent reviews of discretionary Social Fund decisions made in Jobcentre Plus offices in England, Scotland and Wales. The "Publications and Leaflets" section includes the IRS Journal and a digest of inspectors' decisions (both from winter 1999 onwards), recent annual reports, and the Social Fund Commissioner's advice to inspectors. In the section "Your Rights and the Law" there are links to relevant Acts on the Legislation.gov.uk web site.

Social Security Advisory Committee

The SSAC is the main UK advisory body on social security matters. The site includes current consultation documents, annual reports 2005-2006 onwards, research and occasional papers and recent press releases.

Social Security and Child Support Tribunal

The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) deals with appeals from decisions of the Department for Work and Pensions and the Child Support Agency, as well as other government departments and local authorities, concerning social security, child support, income support, housing and other benefits. It was formerly known as the Social Security and Child Support Appeal Tribunal, and earlier still as the Appeals Service. Since 3 November 2008 it has formed part of the First-tier Tribunal's Social Entitlement Chamber. The site provides general information, forms, guidance on how to appeal, and links to legislation.


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