It became necessary because of the complexity of the UK social security system and had links at the time with a growing Claimants Union movement.
Some local authorities and voluntary sector organisations, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, employ paid or volunteer welfare rights advisers.
Welfare rights advisers generally offer expert lay legal advice in dealings with public departments, such as local authority Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit services, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The Flemming Rule of 1960, named after Arthur Flemming, was an administrative ruling which decreed that states could not deny income assistance eligibility through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program on the basis of a home being considered unsuitable per the woman's children being termed as illegitimate.
In April 1991 Cheri Honkala founded the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, a progressive social justice, political action, and advocacy group of, by, and for the poor and homeless which is operating out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and led by Galen Tyler.