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National Insurance Local Tribunals: A Research Study – Part II
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2009
Abstract
Tribunals, now recognized as key institutions of the Welfare State, are attracting a good deal of attention. Despite a growing volume of criticism little systematic research has been undertaken into the way they actually function. Since almost every British citizen has rights of appeal to national insurance local tribunals (NILTs) it would seem that they constitute a good starting point. An earlier article presented a general view of NILTs. This paper examines the way the appeal system works from several different perspectives. Difficulties encountered by ordinary citizens at various stages in the appeal process are discussed. The research findings on attendance, representation and success rates are analysed. Attendance by the appellant at the hearing of his appeal is shown to be of particular significance. It is also clear that expansion of facilities for providing advice and representation would be advantageous to appellants. Problems connected with expansion of these facilities are discussed, and an ‘ideal type’ representative is outlined. This leads to a discussion of different tribunal models and a ‘participation model’ is developed. Finally, some implications of the research findings for the development of social policy are considered.
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References
1 Report of the Committee on Administrative Tribunals and Inquiries, London: HMSO, Cmd. 218, 1957, p. 8 (Franks Committee).Google Scholar
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3 See Bell, Kathleen et al. , op. cit.Google Scholar, for details of methodology. All chairmen (71) and a one in two sample of panel members (718) of all NILTs in Scotland and the Northern Region of England were included in a postal survey. Every appellant (272) receiving a decision at eight NILTs in and around Tyneside from mid-May to the end of July, 1972, was included in the appellants' survey. Response rates were: chairmen 84.5 per cent; members 67.3 per cent; appellants 89.7 per cent.
4 Members of the research team attended 68 complete tribunal sittings and observed 350 appeals.
5 This form is now being revised. The original wording was: ‘Do you wish to be present qr be represented at the hearing of your case? – (Yes or No)’.
6 See Bell, Kathleen et al. , op. cit.Google Scholar, for information on the data analysis. Data were extracted, analysed and collated from sets of official papers relating to all final hearings of appeals to NILTs in Scotland and the Northern Region of England in 1970. Altogether 7,528 appeals were included in this analysis. In this paper, for reasons of brevity, statistics quoted from the data analysis refer to Scotland only.
7 A claimant of unemployment benefit may be disallowed benefit for up to six weeks on the ground that he lost his employment through his misconduct. Not surprisingly, appeals in these cases tend to generate a certain amount of heat. We found that most appellants did not understand the technical sense in which this term is used and felt there was a moral stigma attached to it.
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