§ Mr. Ronnie CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people failed to attend an Independent Tribunal Service hearing in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what is the cost of each hearing. [29226]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
In the quarter ending 30 September 1997, 36,053 Social Security Appeal Tribunals were held, of which 20,091 were not attended by either an appellant or his representative. This is the total number of appeals not attended. Data are not available for cases where the appellant indicated that he would attend and then failed to do so.
The average cost of each case cleared at a tribunal hearing is estimated by the Independent Tribunal Service to be £2501.
1 This figure relates to all hearings which took place in the 1996–97 financial year, the most recent period for which figures are available.