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Transfer of Functions of the Consumer Credit Appeals Tribunal Order 2009

I thank noble Lords for their support. The noble Lord, Lord Henley, asked what further transfers were planned. Subject to parliamentary approval, further transfers into the general regulatory chamber are planned for January 2010 when we will transfer the jurisdictions of the gambling appeals tribunal, the immigration services tribunal, the adjudication panel for England, the information tribunal and the claims management tribunal to the first-tier tribunal general regulatory chamber. Draft rules for the general regulatory chamber have been proposed by the Tribunal Procedure Committee and a public consultation has recently closed. Also in 2010 we plan to transfer the Family Health Services Appeal Authority to the first-tier tribunal health, education and social care chamber and the pensions regulatory tribunal and financial services and markets tribunal into the finance and tax chamber of the upper tribunal. The Tribunal Procedure Committee will shortly be consulting users of these tribunals to assess whether amendments to procedure rules will be required when they transfer in. In May we announced plans to transfer the work of the asylum and immigration tribunal in 2010 and set up the first-tier tribunal and upper tribunal chambers for immigration and asylum. The Tribunal Procedure Committee will be consulting on rules for the upper tribunal chamber and will modify the existing AIT procedural rules and fast-track rules so that they apply for proceedings in the first-tier chamber. After this set of transfers, we will consider how best to transfer the remaining tribunals, many of which have few or no cases. The reason for setting up the unified tribunal system was to provide a better system for users and was not, therefore, primarily a cost-saving measure. Moreover, the regulatory impact assessment for the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2000 did not identify any additional costs from setting up the first-tier tribunals and upper tribunals. However, it is expected that the new structure will facilitate improved use of resources as well as offering greater flexibility in absorbing new work and responding to fluctuations, which will lead to savings in the longer term. As to when the provisions will be brought into effect, the transport tribunal retains jurisdiction for tribunals relating to the quality contract scheme under sections—and there are an awful lot of sections—of the Transport Act 2000, as amended, which have yet to be brought into force and, as yet, no decision has been taken on whether the appeal should lie to the first-tier tribunal or the upper tribunal. There will be further consultation on this by the Department for Transport and a further transfer order will be laid before Parliament following completion of that consultation. It will be brought into force after consultation is concluded. The consultation is planned to be published shortly. As regards the Government’s consultation regarding tribunals and the response to it, 48 respondents thought that the proposed allocation of jurisdictions was correct. Of the 19 who disagreed, three respondents commented on the mental health review tribunal, one on the information tribunal and a few respondents disagreed on the proposals for the tax credit appeals tribunal. Seven respondents commented on the proposals for the pension appeals tribunal and these concerns were met during the debates on the transfer of this tribunal. Of relevance to today’s transfers were the comments provided by two respondents, who thought that the consumer credit appeals tribunal and estate agents tribunal should be in the upper tribunal on the basis that they dealt with issues similar to those of the financial services and markets tribunal. The Government rejected these arguments on the basis that the level of complexity and breadth of the issues dealt with by the financial services and markets tribunal was not replicated in either the consumer credit appeals tribunal or the estate agents appeals panel. The Government have considered and listened carefully to all respondents’ comments and have responded accordingly where concerns have been raised. As to when the transport tribunal will be abolished—in other words, when are we going to solve the Scottish question?—we are unable to provide an exact timetable, given the legislative amendments needed, but we plan to do so as soon as we are able. In respect of the devolved matter, a suitable legislative vehicle will need to be found to amend the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 or the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. This could be done directly by the Scottish Government or in Westminster with their agreement. On the question of what goes where, my relatively simple understanding—I will write if I get this wrong—is that most matters from first appeal will go to a first-tier tribunal. The big exception is the traffic commissioner, because the appeal was to the commissioner in the first place. In that case, it goes directly to the upper tribunal. Appeals from the first-tier tribunal—shall we start again on this bit, now that I have a script? The jurisdiction to hear appeals to decisions of the traffic commissioner transfers to the upper tribunal. Traffic commissioners are, in effect, an appeal body when they make a decision in cases that can be appealed to the transport tribunal. In this capacity, they are subject to the oversight of the Administrative Justice and Tribunal Council. It is therefore more appropriate to transfer appeals against decisions of the traffic commissioners to the upper tribunal, which preserves the current status of the transport tribunal as a superior court of record when dealing with these types of appeal. The remaining jurisdiction transfers to the first-tier tribunal and generally deals with appeals from the Driving Standards Agency. Such appeals are appropriate for the first-tier tribunal, given its first-instance jurisdiction. In other words, the first tier will normally deal with first-instance jurisdiction and the upper level will hear appeals for the first level, but in some areas particularly complex or important cases will go directly to the upper tribunal. The issue is that, it being a superior court of record when dealing with these types of appeal, it can create precedent. Motion agreed.