§ Mr. WatsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how much has been spent on providing briefing material to members of industrial tribunals in each of the last five years; and what is his estimate of the amount likely to be spent during the current year; [29937]
(2) what change has been made in the amount of briefing material made available to industrial tribunal members; and if he will make a statement; [29936]
(3) what consultations he has had with industrial tribunal members about the type and quantity of briefing material they want to have provided by the Department. [29938]
Mr. John M. TaylorRegular briefing is provided for members through the Incomes Data Services brief. The annual costs of this publication for the last five years and the current year is:
- Year
- 1991: £71.8k
- 1992: £77.4k
- 1993: £100.1k
- 1994: £101.6k
- 1995: £102.1k
- 1996: £80.7k
These figures include the cost of providing this publication to tribunal chairmen as well as members. It is not possible to identify separately the cost for the lay members. Additional briefing material is provided to members as part of their initial and annual refresher training.
The instrument of appointment for lay members provides for up to three days initial induction training, plus up to two refresher days general training each year.
There has been no change to the range of briefing material made available to members, although in the interests of good financial management, there has been a reduction in the total number of copies of the IDS brief. This reduction in the number of copies was the subject of full consultation with the president of the tribunals and the regional chairmen.