§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claimants in each of the last 10 years have applied for their cases to be heard before each of the various administrative tribunals concerned with welfare rights;
1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1. Number of appeals lodged* 12,564 12,263 11,823 17,633 19,706 2. Item 1 as percentage of claims received by Local Offices 0.42 0.45 0.43 0.43 0.41 3. Percentage of Item 1 formally reviewed in appellant's favour by Supplementary Benefits Commission† N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 4. Percentage of Item 1 withdrawn 20.4 19.8 19.6 23.4 26.2 5. Percentage of Item 1 heard by tribunals 78.2 78.7 78.9 75.2 73.0 6. Percentage of Item 5: (a) claimant successful 24.5 23.4 20.6 20.8 19.8 (b) claimant unsuccessful 75.5 76.6 79.4 79.2 80.2
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1. Number of appeals lodged* 24,051 28,815 38,014 40,833 61,445 2. Item 1 as percentage of claims received by Local Offices 0.39 0.39 0.63 0.64 0.89 3. Percentage of Item 1 formally reviewed in appellant's favour by Supplementary Benefits Commission† 16.8 20.8 24.8 27.7 27.2 4. Percentage of Item 1 withdrawn 16.2 14.6 13.0 12.8 12.9 5. Percentage of Item 1 heard by tribunals 65.7 63.2 60.6 58.0 58.0 6. Percentage of Item 5: (a) claimant successful 19.7 19.4 19.7 17.7 15.0 (b) claimant unsuccessful 80.3 80.6 80.3 82.3 85.0 * Figures for the years 1963–67 relate only to appeals which were heard by tribunals. Figures from 1968 onwards relate to all appeals lodged. † Figures not kept before 1968. N/A = Not available.