SOCIAL SECURITY ADJUDICATIONS (Hansard, 11 May 1983)

§ Mr. Newton
I beg to move amendment No. 38, in page 94, leave out lines 20 to 23 and insert— '(2A) One of those persons shall be drawn from the panel mentioned in sub-paragraph (1B) of paragraph 1 of Schedule 10 to this Act. (2AA) The other shall be drawn from the panel mentioned in sub-paragraph (1C) of that paragraph.'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 39 to 42.

§ Mr. Newton
We come, I hope briefly, to the second instalment of the price demanded by the Opposition for facilitating the passage of this Bill. In this case, it is more than usually a ritual sacrifice, because it is dictated by the natural conservatism of the trade unions which, since 1948, have had a monopoly right to have a trade union member on panels of national insurance local tribunals and a different but somewhat comparable position for supplementary benefit appeal tribunals. Instead of these two systems of tribunals, the Bill creates a new system of unified social security appeal tribunals.
As it stands, the Bill makes provision to broaden the basis of nomination to tribunal membership. Nominations would still have been accepted from the CBI and the TUC, but we would have sought also broader nominations from groups such as RADAR, the Child Poverty Action Group, Gingerbread, and other bodies. This proposal has been strongly opposed by the TUC, which wishes to maintain its existing exclusive rights of nomination.
In the wider interests of the Bill, we have agreed for the present—I emphasise, for the present—to restore the status quo. Thus, the amendments restore the position for nominating members of tribunals and ensure that the existing rights of nomination enjoyed by the CBI and TUC are maintained. In moving the amendments, I must make it quite clear that the Government, when they are returned to power, will reserve the right to restore their original proposals at an appropriate moment.

§ Mr. Alfred Morris
The Minister should of course have said "if" the Government are restored to power.
These amendments preserve the present arrangements whereby one member of an appeal tribunal is representative of employed earners. We very much welcome the change to the Bill. It removes one of the major causes of our unhappiness with the Bill as originally drafted and makes new adjudication procedures much more acceptable to us.

§ Mr. Newton
I beg to move amendment No. 23, in page 96, line 46, at end insert—

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take amendments Nos. 24 and 25.

§ Mr. Newton
The amendments were tabled to fulfil a commitment that I made in Committee that appropriate training and books of reference would be made available to the chairmen and members of the proposed new social security appeal tribunals. In Committee our discussion was directed to chairmen and members of SSATs. The amendments relate not only to such chairmen and members but to chairmen and members of the existing and continuing medical appeal tribunals, as it seemed to us that what was right for one was right of the other.
We have given those responsibities to the president of the proposed new structure as he will be best placed to judge what is required. It was common ground between ourselves and the Opposition in Committee that regular meetings of tribunal chairmen should be held to discuss topics of common concern. That has been included in the amendment. We have also made provision for the president to arrange meetings for tribunal members, as he considers appropriate. I hope that this enables us to end detailed discussion of the Bill on a happy note of unanimity between ourselves and the Opposition, and that the amendments will commend themselves to the House.

§ Mr. Alfred Morris
Amendments Nos. 23 and 25 were tabled as a result of suggestions made by my hon. Friends in Committee and are thus welcome to us.