§ Mr. Oakesasked the Minister of Social Security why every individual document is photostatically reproduced in appeals to the National Insurance Commissioner and to tribunals; and what estimate she has made of the savings to be gained by reproducing only important documents.
§ Mr. PentlandLocal tribunals and National Insurance Commissioners are independent statutory authorities who determine their own procedure on appeals. The procedure is that documents which appear to the insurance officer to be relevant to an appeal are put before the tribunal and copies are sent to the claimant.
I understand that efforts are made to keep documentation to a minimum.
141W
§ Mr. Oakesasked the Minister of Social Security (1) what was the total cost of photostating documents in appeals to medical appeals tribunals, and the average cost of this process per appeal during the last financial year;
(2) what was the total cost of photo-stating documents in appeals to the National Insurance Commissioner, and the average cost of this process per appeal during the last financial year.
§ Mr. PentlandTo obtain the precise cost of copying documents for appeals to the National Insurance Commissioners and medical appeal tribunals in any year would require detailed and expensive enquiry: but the estimated annual cost is of the order of £60,000 which gives an average cost per appeal or reference to a Medical Appeal Tribunal of about £2 6s. The figure for the Commissioners is somewhat higher.