Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Justice
Alex Cunningham (Stockton North, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to extend the scope of legal aid to include appeals to first-tier tribunals on welfare benefits matters where a point of law is raised; and if he will make a statement.
Jonathan Djanogly (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (HM Courts Service and Legal Aid), Justice; Huntingdon, Conservative)
We have undertaken to explore whether we can find a way whereby someone, other than the claimant or their lawyer, certifies that a welfare benefits appeal in the first-tier tribunal involves a point of law. There is still much work to do to determine how and in what circumstances this might be done.