§ Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received regarding the workings of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal of the War Pensions Agency. [18145]
§ Mr. HoonThe question concerns a matter which has been assigned to the Court Service under the terms of its framework document. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Michael Huebner to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 4 December 1997:
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your Question about representations concerning the Pensions Appeal Tribunals. The Court Service is responsible for the administration of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals. They are wholly independent of the War Pensions Agency, which is an Executive agency of the Department of Social Security.Since April, I have answered five letters on the subject from Members of Parliament, including one addressed to the Parliamentary Secretary, one to the Secretary of State for Social Security and one to the Chief Executive of the War Pensions Agency.In the same period, staff in Court Service Headquarters have replied to 14 letters from members of the public. Of these, four were addressed to the Lord Chancellor, eight to the Court Service, one to the Home Secretary and one to the Open Government Unit.