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Dept of Social Security

Answer

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what maximum time is permitted for the chairman of a Disability Living Allowance appeal tribunal to produce a full written decision of the tribunal chairman's findings. [138035] Angela Eagle: This is a matter for the President of the Appeals Service. There is no statutory time limit by which a chairman of a Disability Living Allowance appeal tribunal should produce a full written statement. However, the President is keen to ensure that the public has a clear understanding of the level of performance they can expect. That is why he has set a standard of 10 days for the tribunal Chair to produce a full statement of reasons. This is in addition to standards set by the Appeals Service agency of two days to refer the statement to the Chairman, and three days to type and issue the statement to the appellant. This results in an overall standard of fifteen days. We recognise that anecdotal evidence has shown that these standards are not always met. And unfortunately, the management information systems (MIS) in place do not yet give robust information to enable us to establish the proportion of cases in which these standards are being met. MIS is currently being put in place to enable these standards to be monitored.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

356 c712W; 138035

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Disability living allowance Appeals Administrative delays Standards Tribunals

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk