HC Deb 24 February 1953 vol 511 cc209-10W
80. Mr. Hale

asked the Attorney-General what facilities are available to enable an applicant for a disability pension to pay for the reports of and attendance as witnesses of his medical advisers.

The Attorney-General

I assume that the Question refers to appeals to the pensions appeal tribunals. The Pensions Appeal Tribunals (England and Wales) Rules, 1943, as amended in 1949, provide that an appellant may be paid his expenses for obtaining a medical report or the attendance of a medical witness, if the president or chairman of the tribunal certifies that the production of the report or the attendance of the medical witness was reasonably necessary for the purposes of the appeal. The maximum sum allowable for the report is three guineas, and for the attendance of a medical witness three guineas, or, with the leave of the president in special cases, five guineas. The travelling expenses of the witness are also allowed.