HC Deb 02 December 1963 vol 685 cc758-9
11. Mr. Swingler

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will stats, for each of the last three years in respect of injury benefit and disablement benefit cases, respectively, in what proportion of cases where the decision of the medical board was favourable to the claimant he referred the case to the medical appeal tribunal.

The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance (Lieut-Commander S. L. C. Maydon)

Questions of injury benefit do not come before medical boards except in some cases of diagnosis of prescribed diseases. My right hon. Friend exercises his power to refer to medical appeal tribunals decisions of medical boards in the interests both of claimants and other contributors. The proportion of all the medical board decisions which came before medical appeal tribunals after such references in I960, 1961 and 1962 was about 1.4 per cent, 1.4 per cent, and 1.6 per cent, respectively.

Mr. Swingler

That does not answer the Question, which was concerned with a decision favourable to the claimant. Is the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that I am concerned with the figures given by the Minister to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Mrs. Slater) last week, which showed a startling increase in the number of cases which the Minister referred to the appeal tribunal, cases in which the medical board had given a favourable result to the claimant? In the last three years, in north Staffordshire at any rate, this increase in the number of cases referred to the appeal tribunal by the Minister has created the impression that the Ministry is doing everything possible to dispute the claims of the injured and disabled.

Lieut-Commander Maydon

In the first place, it is impossible to separate what might be considered a favourable from an unfavourable decision. The assessment is given by the medical board, and it is not until after appeal that it can be found whether it remains the same, is reduced or increased, in which case it would be favourable or unfavourable.