§ Mr. Kenneth Clarkeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will set out those recommendations of the Bell inquiry into supplementary benefit appeal tribunals which have been accepted by the Government, those which have been acted upon to date, and those which have been rejected.
§ Mr. OrmeProfessor Bell's recommendations, which I assume the hon. Member has in mind, have so far been dealt with as follows:
Accepted and already acted upon.—That there should be a training programme for tribunal chairmen; a guide to supplementary benefit appeal tribunal adjudication; a review of the panels of chairman and members; clarification of the roles of tribunal clerks and presenting officers; an improvement in tribunal premises; better explanation of how the Supplementary Benefits Commission's decision was reached; clearer and more complete documentation of appeals; improved form and explanatory leaflets; consideration of the difficulties in attending hearings of elderly or handicapped appellants and those who live in areas badly served by public transport; and efforts to reduce the time between making an appeal and the hearing.
Accepted in part and already acted upon.—That all newly appointed chairmen should be legally qualified. While the Government have decided that the proportion of legally qualified chairmen —at present 12 per cent. of the total—should gradually be increased they do not accept that legal qualifications are a necesary prerequisite for appointment.
That there should be a right of appeal from tribunal decisions to a second-tier appeal body. Consideration of the longer-term arrangements is proceeding concurrently with the review of the supplementary benefit scheme, but meanwhile my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor and my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Advocate have made an order under the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1971 granting from 1st January 1978 a direct right of appeal from the tribunals to the High Court—in Scotland, the Court of Session—on a point of law.
226WAccepted in principle and under consideration.—That there should be a training programme for members; better advisory and representational facilities for appellants; and an examination of the method of recruiting tribunal members.
Under consideration concurrently with the review of the supplementary benefit scheme.—The need for a senior chairman in each region; the building up of a body of case law; and the clarification of areas in the legislation which give rise to problems in adjudication.
For future consideration.—The possibility of merging the appeal structures of the national insurance and supplementary benefit schemes.
Rejected.—None of Professor Bell's recommendations have been completely rejected.