§ Sir F. Markhamasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what has been the number of appeals to local National Assistance Tribunals during the last period for which statistics are available; and in how many of these cases the decision of the officer was varied by the Tribunal.
§ Mr. N. MacphersonA total of 11,343 appeals were considered by National Assistance Appeal Tribunals during the year ended 31st December, 1961. The decisions of officers of the National Assistance Board were varied in 2,204 instances.
§ Sir F. Markhamasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he is satisfied that the Local National Assistance Appeal Tribunals have sufficient discretion to vary the decision of the officer in cases of special hardship; and whether he is considering any variation in existing regulations.
§ Mr. N. MacphersonNational Assistance Appeal Tribunals have the same wide discretion to take account of the special circumstances of an individual case as is conferred on the Board by the National Assistance (Determination of Need) Regulations, 1948. I have no reason to think that any variation is required.