§ Mr. Shersbyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why vaccine damage tribunal clerks, unlike court clerks, are not legally required to take down notes at a hearing; and whether, in the light of the difficulties caused by the absence of a proper record of the proceedings, he will take steps to require full notes to be taken of such proceedings in future.
§ Dr. Vaughan[pursuant to his reply, 11 May 1981, c. 201]: There is no general legal obligation for court clerks to take notes and I understand that different practices apply in different courts.
There is similarly no legal obligation for notes to be taken at vaccine damage tribunals whose procedures are governed by the Vaccine Damage Payments Regulations 1979 and are on similar lines to those followed by medical appeal tribunals. Notes may, however, be taken at vaccine damage tribunal hearings by the chairman or clerk on occasions when this appears to them to be desirable. I am unaware of any significant difficulty arising as a result of present practice and do not propose any change.