Clause 4
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill
9:30 am
Simon Hughes (Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs & Shadow Attorney General, Constitutional Affairs; North Southwark and Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat)
I wonder whether the Minister could tell us as of now how many tribunal judges are full time and part time. Will she break that down by territory and tell us how many are women and how many are men? How many come from the black or minority ethnic communities? How many are lay people who are not legally qualified? I support the idea that lay people are coming into the Tribunals Service, and I have always supported that, but it would be interesting to know what numbers are in that category and what percentage they make up. I expect that the list might be immediately available, but if it is not will she let ushave it at the earliest available moment? There were announcements last week about widening judicial appointments, which are welcome on the Liberal Democrat Benches. If we are to know how much we need to do that work, we need to know the basis from which it started.