Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidelines his Department has issued to the Tribunals Service on timescales for appeal hearings at First Tier Tribunals from when the appeal has been submitted; and if he will make a statement.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) publishes official statistics on the operation of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) including end to end timeliness data for a number of Tribunals. These statistics are published on a quarterly basis and the most recent official statistical publication (covering the period up to the end of September 2014) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. The end to end timeliness data captures the timelines from receipt of a claim or appeal with HMCTS until the hearing or final disposal of the case.

The MoJ does not issue guidelines to HMCTS about the timescales from receipt of an appeal to the actual hearing for individual tribunal jurisdictions. This time period varies considerably between the jurisdictions because of their diverse nature, the complexity of their cases and the length of preparation required by the parties.