§ Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many appeals were made to the social security tribunal in 1989 and in the quarters of 1990 for which figures are available; and what is the average time appellants have had to wait for a decision in the specified periods in each standard planning region of the United Kingdom.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardIn 1989 there were 161,294 new appeals lodged with the social security appeal tribunals. I regret that similar details for the first quarter of 1990 are not yet available.
The figures show, for each of the social security regions, the average time from the date of lodgement of an appeal to the date of the tribunal hearing for the year ending 31 December 1989.
Social Security Appeal Tribunals in year ended 31 December 1989 Average number of weeks from lodgement to hearing Region Number Great Britain 25.4 North Eastern 22.8 London North 24.0 London South 27.2 Midlands 25.2 North Western 29.1 Scotland 28.4 Wales and South Western 19.0 The figures do not include any time taken between the date of the appeal hearing and the eventual promulgation of the tribunal's decision. Responsibility for this action lies with the president of the social security and medical appeal tribunals and he has advised that a recent survey produced the following results.
Number of weeks from date of hearing to issue of decision Region Number North Eastern 3 London North 2–3 London South 3–4 Midlands 2–3 North Western 110 Scotland 2–3 Wales and South Western 2–3 1Days-2.