Part IDecisions and Appeals
Chapter IGeneral
Decisions
I231Transfer of functions to Secretary of State
The following functions are hereby transferred to the Secretary of State, namely—
I11I14I17C5I20a
the functions of adjudication officers appointed under section 38 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (“the Administration Act”);
b
the functions of social fund officers appointed under section 64 of that Act; and
I6c
the functions of child support officers appointed under section 13 of the Child Support Act 1991 (“the Child Support Act”).
C1I242Use of computers
I11
Any decision, determination or assessment falling to be made or certificate falling to be issued by the Secretary of State under or by virtue of a relevant enactment, or in relation to a war pension, may be made or issued not only by an officer of his acting under his authority but also—
a
by a computer for whose operation such an officer is responsible; and
b
in the case of a decision, determination or assessment that may be made or a certificate that may be issued by a person providing services to the Secretary of State, by a computer for whose operation such a person is responsible.
2
In this section “relevant enactment” means any enactment contained in—
I1b
the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (“the Contributions and Benefits Act”);
I1c
the Administration Act;
I1d
the Child Support Act;
I1e
the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994;
I1f
the Jobseekers Act 1995 (“the Jobseekers Act”);
i
the State Pension Credit Act 2002.
I13
In this section and section 3 below “war pension” has the same meaning as in section 25 of the Social Security Act 1989 (establishment and functions of war pensions committees).
I23Use of information
C6C71
Subsection (2) below applies to information relating to F6any of the matters specified in subsection (1A) below which is held—
a
by the Secretary of State or the Northern Ireland Department; or
b
by a person providing services to the Secretary of State or the Northern Ireland Department in connection with the provision of those services.
F71A
The matters are—
a
social security, child support or war pensions;
b
employment or training;
c
private pensions policy;
d
retirement planning.
C102
Information to which this subsection applies—
C8a
may be used for the purposes of, or for any purposes connected with, the exercise of functions in relation to F8any of the matters specified in subsection (1A) above; and
b
may be supplied to, or to a person providing services to, the Secretary of State or the Northern Ireland Department for use for those purposes.
F33
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
In this section “the Northern Ireland Department” means the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland F2or the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland.
F95
In this section—
“private pensions policy” means policy relating to occupational pension schemes or personal pension schemes (within the meaning given by section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993);
“retirement planning” means promoting financial planning for retirement.
Appeals
I254Unified appeal tribunals
1
Subject to the provisions of this Act—
I13I16I19I22a
the functions of social security appeal tribunals, disability appeal tribunals and medical appeal tribunals constituted under Part II of the Administration Act;
I7b
the functions of child support appeal tribunals established under section 21 of the Child Support Act; and
I22c
the functions of vaccine damage tribunals established by regulations made under section 4 of the [1979 c. 17.] Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 (“the Vaccine Damage Payments Act”),
are hereby transferred to appeal tribunals constituted under the following provisions of this Chapter.
2
Accordingly appeals under—
I7b
section 20 of the Child Support Act, as substituted by section 42 below;
I22c
section 4 of the Vaccine Damage Payments Act, as substituted by section 46 below; and
d
section 11 of the [1997 c. 27.] Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997,
shall be determined by appeal tribunals so constituted (in the following provisions of this Chapter referred to as “appeal tribunals”).
I8I26C95President of appeal tribunals
C2C3C41
The Lord Chancellor may, after consultation with the Lord Advocate, appoint a President of appeal tribunals.
2
A person is qualified to be appointed President if—
F14a
he satisfies the judicial-appointment eligibility condition on a 7-year basis; or
b
he is an advocate or solicitor in Scotland of at least F157 years' standing.
I293
Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect for supplementing this section.
I3I9I27C96Panel for appointment to appeal tribunals
1
The Lord Chancellor shall constitute a panel of persons to act as members of appeal tribunals.
2
Subject to subsection (3) below, the panel shall be composed of F10persons appointed by the Lord Chancellor.
3
The panel shall include persons possessing such qualifications as may be prescribed by regulations made with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor.
F113A
As part of the selection process for the appointment of a medical practitioner as a member of the panel, the Judicial Appointments Commission shall consult the Chief Medical Officer.
4
The numbers of persons appointed to the panel, and the terms and conditions of their appointments, shall be determined by the Lord Chancellor with the consent of the Secretary of State.
5
A person may be removed from the panel by the Lord Chancellor on the ground of incapacity or misbehaviourF12; but the Lord Chancellor may remove such a person only with the concurrence of the appropriate senior judge.
F135A
The appropriate senior judge is the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, unless the person to be removed exercises functions wholly or mainly in Scotland, in which case it is the Lord President of the Court of Session.
6
In this section “the Chief Medical Officer” means—
a
in relation to England, the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health;
b
in relation to Wales, the Chief Medical Officer of the Welsh Office; and
c
in relation to Scotland, the Chief Medical Officer of the F1Scottish Administration.
I4I5I10I28C97Constitution of appeal tribunals
1
Subject to subsection (2) below, an appeal tribunal shall consist of one, two or three members drawn by the President from the panel constituted under section 6 above.
2
The member, or (as the case may be) at least one member, of an appeal tribunal must—
F16a
be a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, a barrister in England and Wales or have a qualification that is specified under subsection (6A); or
b
be an advocate or solicitor in Scotland.
3
Where an appeal tribunal has more than one member—
a
the President shall nominate one of the members as chairman;
b
decisions shall be taken by a majority of votes; and
c
unless regulations otherwise provide, the chairman shall have any casting vote.
4
Where it appears to an appeal tribunal that a matter before it involves a question of fact of special difficulty, then, unless regulations otherwise provide, the tribunal may require one or more experts to provide assistance to it in dealing with the question.
5
In subsection (4) above “expert” means a member of the panel constituted under section 6 above who appears to the appeal tribunal concerned to have knowledge or experience which would be relevant in determining the question of fact of special difficulty.
6
Regulations shall make provision with respect to—
a
the composition of appeal tribunals;
b
the procedure to be followed in allocating cases among differently constituted tribunals; and
c
the manner in which expert assistance is to be given under subsection (4) above.
F176A
The Lord Chancellor may by order specify a qualification for the purposes of subsection (2)(a) above.
6B
Subsections (2) to (4), (9) and (10) of section 51 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (contents of orders under subsection (1) of that section, and cessation of effect of such orders) shall apply for the purposes of subsection (6A) above as they apply for the purposes of subsection (1) of that section, but as if the reference in subsection (3) of that section to section 50 of that Act were a reference to this section.
6C
For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) above, a person shall be taken first to become a barrister—
a
when the person completes pupillage in connection with becoming a barrister, or
b
in the case of a person not required to undertake pupillage in connection with becoming a barrister, when the person is called to the Bar of England and Wales.
6D
For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) above, a person shall be taken not to be a solicitor or a barrister, or not to have a qualification specified under subsection (6A) above, if as a result of disciplinary proceedings he is prevented from practising as a solicitor or (as the case may be) as a barrister or as a holder of the specified qualification.
I307
Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect for supplementing this section.