§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Attorney-General if he will publish the criteria used by the social security commissioners for selecting cases to go to appeal to it; which cases are given priority; and which communications between them and the parties to the appeal are disclosed.
The Solicitor-GeneralThe social security commissioners grant leave to appeal in supplementary benefit cases where the application for leave to appeal discloses a point of law and in national insurance cases where the local tribunal appears to have erred in law or reached a decision which was not justified on the facts before it.
Cases are given priority according to the order in which the relevant papers are received, the state of readiness of the parties and the urgency and importance of the particular case.
As regards the disclosure of communications, all written submissions made to the commissioner by either side are disclosed to the other.