§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the approximate average time between the lodging of an appeal to the social security appeals tribunal and the hearing of the appeal in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) Scotland, (c) Orkney and (d) Shetland;
(2) how many appeals to the social security appeals tribunals lodged on or after 1 January 1986 were not heard by a tribunal until a date later than 12 months after receipt of the appeal in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) Scotland, (c) Orkney and (d) Shetland.
§ Mr. PortilloThe national administrative statistics for social security appeal tribunals, which are the source for average times between the lodging of appeals and hearing, are not disaggregated for areas smaller than a social security region.
For the quarter ending 30 September 1987 (the latest information available) the average time from lodgement of appeal to hearing in Great Britain was 23.2 weeks and in Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland, it was 26.3 weeks.
The information about appeals which are heard more than 12 months after being lodged is not available in the form requested but in Great Britain, for the quarter ended 30 September 1987, 937 appeals were heard and decided which had been lodged at least 12 months previously. The equivalent figure for Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland, was 225.