Secretary for Social and Family Affairs (Sanctaria)

Secretary of State for Social Welfare
Sanctarian Coat of Arms
Incumbent Harry Bell since 01 February 2018
Style	The Right Honourable (formal) Mister/Madam Secretary (spoken) His/Her Excellency (in international correspondence)
Member of	House of Deputies Cabinet
Reports to	Prime Minister of Sanctaria
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	President of Sanctaria on the advice of the Prime Minister, and the consent of the Senate
Term length	At the Prime Minister's Pleasure No fixed term
Formation	19 November 1974
First holder	Dennis Clarke MP
Salary	S£280,000
Website	welfare.gov.sct

The Secretary of State for Social Welfare, also known as the Secretary for Social Welfare and Welfare Secretary, is the head of the Sanctarian Department of Social Welfare, which is tasked with administering Sanctaria's welfare system. The current Education Secretary is Harry Bell. He was appointed to the post on 01 February 2018.

The position, and the Department, has been known by many names since its incarnation. Most commonly it has been called Family Affairs, however between 2015 and 2018, the position was known as the Secretary for Human Services in charge of the department with the same name.

Overview

The Secretary for Social Welfare is a senior advisor to the Prime Minister on matters relating to the nation's welfare system and the provisioning of income support. Examples of areas of policy that come under the purview of the Welfare Secretary include the development and enactment of government policy on income supplements, pensions policy, as well as identifying areas of social assistance that require improvement.

The position was originally established in 1974 as the Secretary for Family Affairs, in charge of the department of the same name. Original responsibilities of this department not only included the social welfare system, but also community and family supports, as well as the provisioning of social and child protection services. Later governments, however, moved these latter responsibilities were moved to other government departments.

Duties

Duties of the Welfare Secretary include, but are not limited to:

• Overall oversight and regulation of the provisioning of income support and welfare aids.
• Implementing government policy on issues such as fraud and sanctions.
• Identifying improved methods for the identification of, and the supplying of welfare to, at-risk claimants.
• Responsibility for the administration of pensions and pension-related benefits to entitled claimants.

List of office holders

Key	Christian Union Party (CUP)      Sanctarian Conservative Party (SCP)      Democratic Left Party (DLP)
Secretary of State for Family Affairs
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth—Death)	Government	Term of office
1		Dennis Clarke (1930—2016)	1st	19 November 1974	17 September 1979
2		Msgr. Clarence O'Donnell (1932—2006)		17 September 1979	03 November 1981
3		Eli Taylor (b.1933)	2nd	06 December 1981	28 February 1984
4		Sheree McQuaid (b.1939)		28 February 1984	17 October 1986
5		Nancy Ryan (b.1939)	3rd	29 November 1986	31 January 1990
6		Audrey Bennet (b.1950)		31 January 1990	06 November 1993
Secretary of State for Social Welfare
7		Charlene Hendry (b.1960)	4th	12 December 1993	08 November 2000
Secretary of State for Social Welfare & Family Affairs
8		Robert Smyth (b.1950)	5th	01 December 2000	04 November 2007
9		Lorraine Dobson (b.1950)	6th	13 December 2007	18 December 2010
10		Andrew Silk (b.1974)		18 December 2010	28 June 2012
11		Yasminé Pontif (b.1962)		28 June 2012	05 February 2013
12		Kate Cruz (b.1961)	7th	01 March 2013	11 September 2015
Secretary of State for Human Services
13		Noreen Islington (b.1976)	7th	11 September 2015	12 January 2018
14		Harry Bell (b.1979)	8th	01 March 2018	Incumbent