§ Mr. Craigenasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number and composition of rent assessment committees in Scotland and origin of selection.
§ Mr. AncramRent assessment committees are constituted from members of the Rent Assessment Panel for Scotland. The panel consists at present of 176 members appointed by my right hon. Friend for periods of three years at a time; of these, 54 are lawyers, 58 chartered surveyors or valuers and 64 lay members. Committees normally comprise a lawyer as chairman and a valuer and lay person as members. They are appointed ad hoc to hear appeals from determinations of a fair rent made by a rent officer. There were 213 such hearings in 1983.
Depending on the nature and extent of the appointments requiring to be made at any one time selection may involve consultations with the Law Society of Scotland, the Scottish branch of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and, where lay members are concerned, bodies representative of commercial, trades union and consumer interests. Appointments may also be made from persons with relevant experience who apply on an individual basis.
£ million 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 Remploy 29.9 33.1 39.0 41.7 49.4 Local Authority Workshops n/a n/a 16.9 17.8 20.2 Voluntary Body Workshops n/a n/a 13.3 15.9 17.5