Clause 9

Part of Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 1:00 pm on 15 March 2007.

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Photo of Simon Hughes Simon Hughes Shadow Attorney General, Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Party Chair, Liberal Democrats 1:00, 15 March 2007

There are four amendments in the group, but only the lead amendment relates to the clause; the other three relate to clauses 11 and 12. I do not support the first amendment in the group, because I believe it is important that there should be a general power of review left to the lower-level tribunal. That is something that tribunals need to do, because there may be factual inaccuracies or information given may need to be corrected. There are all sorts of reasons why it is sensible for the same tribunal to return to a matter if something is pointed out, whether on direction from elsewhere or, as the Bill says, instigated by the tribunal. That process should not be fettered. I understand that, at the moment, although the Minister will no doubt  correct us, such a return is generally likely to be on points of fact, evidence or procedure, but it could be on a point of law as well if that were necessary.

The more substantive matters are covered by amendments Nos. 45, 46 and 49, which would allow a right of appeal to the upper tribunal, and not only on a point of law. That is a significant matter. There is merit in amendment No. 49, which would allow a right of appeal not just on a matter of law, but in respect of where the facts did not bear out or justify the decision, or on a question of fact with the leave of the higher tribunal. However, I am nervous about the idea that factual matters cannot be appealed against and that only legal matters can be appealed against. There are all sorts of cases, from past experience, where the facts do not lead to the tribunal’s conclusion. I have been involved in some cases like that and I am sure that Committee colleagues have, too.

I realise that this is not a new matter—like most things in the Bill—because it has already been to the House of Lords and there has already been at least one set of discussions on it. However, a fairly strong case was put in the Lords for ensuring that there was a wider power of review by the upper tribunal of the lower tribunal. If we are going to keep things in the tribunal system and prevent them from going to the Court of Appeal, or from going outside the tribunal system to a higher court, which is more expensive, would take longer and so on, we should allow the two levels of tribunal to sort things out as much as possible.

One does not want the ability to have a completely new run of the case at the upper tribunal, in the same way as it was run in the lower tribunal. One should not be able simply to appeal for the sake of it, with no check or balance. At the moment, in your constituency, Mr. Bercow, as in mine, many parents will have received letters telling them that their child cannot go to the school that was the family’s first choice. An appeal system is permitted in such cases in almost every school, apart from—anomalously—city technology colleges, where there is no appeal system, which is an injustice that has never been corrected. Many people appeal against such decisions as a matter of course, simply because they want a review and cannot believe that they should not get into the school that is near them. I understand that we do not want a tribunal system that allows an appeal as a matter of course, in effect, to a similar body, although one tier up, simply to hear the facts. The onus is on the Government to argue for such a restriction. I hope that the Minister is sympathetic, at least to amendment No. 49 and, if not, to a variant of amendment No. 45, but resists amendment No. 40.