I've just had a letter from the Tribunals Service saying that they are trying to list one of my appeals in a GP's surgery!!! My client had requested a domiciliary hearing and they seem to have opted for having it at her doctor's rather than in her home! Seems strange to me; has anyone else come across this?

Yes - though domiciliaries are uncommon, it's pretty standard when such hearings are arranged. Anywhere a hearing was held would need facilities for a clerk and for the chair to write the record of proceedings. The room would need to be able to hold as many as seven people (panel, clerk, appellant, rep, PO) and many claimants don't have such accommodation. And then there's the fact that the panel would want to be certain they could not be overheard when deliberating....

That said, I'd be surprised if the surgery were the only venue offered - TS have happily held hearings in my place of work in the past. And a hearing in the appellant's home would be agreed if they were actually housebound.

The only domicillary hearings i've ever had have been held in the clients home.

I usually supply a letter from the Doctor to back up why we're asking for it to be held in the clients home and have never had one refused. Mind you i've only ever had four!

Thu 22-Nov-07 08:07 AM by Maggie B

Thanks for these - yes, a colleague mentioned hearings in CABs and community centres too! I've had quite a few domiciliaries, years ago they never even asked for GP's letters, they were arranged quite easily, but they seem to have tightened up recently, and no-one here in Newcastle has come across this before. I've had all 7 or even more people squashed into one tiny room in people's houses, and chairs sitting on beds in the past! And they used the Chairman's - usually quite spacious - car in which to make the decision. They must be getting soft!

Please excuse my ignorance (from one whose never asked for a domicillary hearing), but if it is accepted that an appellant can't get to tribunal venue, how are they expected to get to a surgery or an adviser's office...?

A domiciallary visit is, by the nature of the phrase, held in the appellants home surely?

The GP's surgery or adviser's office is local and a familiar route?

I've come across this before - it has been discussed at the last few Tribunal User Group meetings at Newcastle TTS.

Such things as doctors surgeries, community centres and even CABx are suggested hearing places when considering a domicilary type hearing. TTS cannot pay for any charges such places may impose.

If these things are impractical, then a home tribunal is still possible.

It's nice that you're still having such meetings. Our's have 'vanished'. On the grapevine, we hear that our local venue is to close. The recent announcement of funding cuts for TTS probably make that inevitable; in which case, we might well be making requests for domicillary hearings...

I'm a bit late picking this topic up. In my previous job (at Camden Tribunal Unit - RIP) I did full time tribunal representation. I had a number of domiciliary hearings over the years and like other correspondents, provided I've had medical evidence that the client couldn't get to the venue or leave their home I never had trouble getting them. The last one I applied for was extremely difficult, although the client had massive health problems, could not have coped at the venue and had a large comfortable living room with ample chairs, TTS made a huge thing of it. They sent a questionnaire asking if we could suggest alternative venues, to which we replied that there would be no point and that they would not solve the problem. They wrote to the client's GP asking to hold the hearing at the surgery, to which the GP wrote a very curt letter explaining why that would not be suitable. In the end they held it at the client's home, but it was a long battle to get it. I think they initially refused and we had to ask the District Chair to reconsider.

I agree that TTS seem to be tightening up considerably but I don't think it's just a cost issue. It would cost them just as much to send tribunals out to doctors' surgeries, community centres etc. I think it's more to do with reluctance to go into the appellants' homes. Some of this may be to do with lack of space, though they do rather exaggerate the numbers involved. In my experience they never send clerks to domiciliary hearings (or out of centre hearings, they now seem to call them in a deliberate shift of emphasis). There are hardly ever presenting officers at the venues these days and I've never come across one at a domiciliary hearing. Also, I have never known the tribunal deliberate in the client's home - they usually gather in someone's car and on one occasion they met in the nearby pub and told me to go down 15 minutes later to be told the decision. My personal view is that it has more to do with the balance of power - the dynamics are very different when the tribunal members are effectively guests in the client's home. I haven't found this always works to the client's advantage - on a couple of occasions I felt the tribunal were over-compensating for this with the Chair coming over as over-bearing or the decision being unduly harsh. Whatever the reasons, it is certainly getting more difficult.