Equal Opportunities and Anti-discrimination
28. It was in the context of training that several
of the respondents to our inquiry raised the question of attitudes
of tribunal members towards appellants coming before them, and
the need for anti-discrimination and equal opportunities training.[50]
Jude Hawes from Stoke-on-Trent Citizens Advice Bureau told us:
"We have been very disturbed
by comments that have been made by tribunal members and by, very
clearly, very stereotypical assumptions about particular people
from ethnic minorities and how families are supposed to behave,
who has helped to fill in the form and what level of English people
should have, which shows to me, clearly, that there is a very
poor standard amongst some chairsobviously I am not saying
every chair, but some tribunal members. This impacts on the conduct
of the tribunal. It is harder to say whether that impacts on the
quality of the decision at the end, but certainly it impacts on
the quality of the tribunal."[51]
29. The President confirmed that there is no equal
opportunities training given to panel members. This is despite
the fact that in 1996-97, the Judicial Training Advisory Group
(which is responsible for monitoring and reviewing training needs
and advising the President as to future requirements) made final
recommendations about an equal treatment training programme for
ITS which the then President, Judge Keith Bassingthwaite, had
asked them to consider.[52]
The training programme was piloted in early 1997-98. The Annual
Report of ITS for 1996-97 stated: "these pilots were favourably
received and the training will be delivered across ITS in the
next financial year as part of the continuing training commitment."[53]
30. We consider that equal opportunities and anti-discrimination
training should be part of the basic training of every panel member,
and should also be integral to all continuing training courses.
We are critical of the lack of importance attached to this aspect
of training. Judge Harris advised us that such training could
not be fitted into this year's training programme (1999-2000),
and that he would "see whether or not it [was] possible to
incorporate [courses] in next year's training round."[54]
He also told us that it was proposed to combine equal opportunities
training with training on the European Convention on Human Rights
"because to some extent they are linked."[55]
We do not see what possible link there is between the two areas.
One involves training in the legal implications of the incorporation
of the European Convention on Human Rights into English Law; the
other involves training in cultural, religious and disability
awareness and the development of anti-discriminatory practices.
We recommend that immediate action should be taken to ensure
that, when The Appeals Service is launched in April 2000, a comprehensive
programme of equal opportunities and anti-discrimination training
for all staffboth administrative and judicialis
in place.
31. Training is one aspect of ensuring that all panel
members exhibit the highest standards when carrying out their
duties. Another is the recruitment process itself. We recommend
that prospective panel members should be tested for their suitability
for judicial appointment. Consideration should be given to such
measures as psychometric testing to achieve this
32. We consider it vital that the new Appeals Service
should be seen to conform to best practice regarding equal opportunities
in all aspects of its work. One particular area of concern is
the fair treatment of ethnic minority groups. We consider that
it is desirable that the ethnicity of people sitting on tribunals
should reflect more closely that of the local community. Table
5 shows the current ethnic make-up of those sitting on tribunals.
Given the key role which legally qualified panel members will
play under the new system, where they will be sitting alone in
an estimated quarter of all appeals, there is a clear case for
seeking to encourage greater recruitment of legally qualified
panel members from ethnic minority backgrounds. We recommend
that the Lord Chancellor's Department, in conjunction with the
President of appeal tribunals, should make special efforts to
recruit suitable people with legal qualifications from ethnic
minority backgrounds to the panel from which tribunals will be
drawn.
Table 5 Ethnic Minority representation
on Tribunals 1997-981
|
Type of Tribunal | Chairs(Percentage)
| Medical Assessors/Medical Members2(Percentage)
| Carers3(Percentage)
|
|
SSATs | 4 |
30 | |
MATs | 3 |
- | |
DATs | 4 |
25 | 4
|
CSATs | 3 |
| |
|
Of the six regional and 48 district full-time chairmen, one
is from an ethnic minority
1 Taken from the Annual Report of the Independent Tribunal Service
1997-98 Appendix 1. Figures referring to the ethnicity of tribunal
members have been omitted, because not relevant to the new composition
of tribunals under the Social Security Act 1998.
2 Under the Social Security Act 1998, medical assessors (who do
not directly participate in the decision making process) will
disappear to be replaced by medically qualified panel members
who will sit as part of a tribunal.
3 A carer member is usually someone with direct or indirect experience
of disabilities. People with such experience will continue to
be recruited as panel members under the Social Security Act 1998.
33. We also recommend that each annual report
of The Appeals Service Agency should give information on the gender
and ethnicity of staff employed by the Agency.
34. No information is collected on the ethnicity
of appellants, nor is there monitoring of outcomes on the basis
of ethnicity.[56]
Ethnic monitoring is an important toolby no means the only
oneto assist an organisation to ensure that it operates
in a fair and impartial manner. We recommend that The Appeals
Service should undertake ethnic monitoring of appellants, and
the monitoring of appeal outcomes by ethnicity, to assist in ensuring
that people are treated fairly irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds.
35. A related issue is the service offered by ITS/The
Appeals Service to people who have difficulties understanding
and communicating in English. As NACAB indicated in its evidence
to us, in this situation the presence of an interpreter at a hearing
can be of vital importance.[57]
At present, the enquiry form sent to an appellant before a hearing
is accompanied by notes which indicate that ITS/The Appeals Service
may be able to provide an interpreter. The form to be completed
by the appellant merely enquires whether an interpreter will be
accompanying the appellant[58].
We recommend that the form which is completed by an appellant
prior to a hearing concerning their attendance should expressly
invite the appellant to indicate whether he or she wishes ITS/The
Appeal Service to arrange for an interpreter to attend the hearing.
We note that the Benefits Agency has put considerable thought
into developing best practice in the use of interpreters.[59]
We recommend that The Appeals Service should adopt Benefits Agency
best practice guidance in the use of interpreters.
1