My colleague contacted the Tribunal Service today to find out why she has still not received a Statement of Reasons that she requested in February. She was informed that she could request that the tribunal decision be set aside due to the length of time it had taken for the statement to be sent out, apparantly the Chair should sent out the statement within 15 working days of receiving the request!!. I have not heard this before and cannot find any reference to this in our handbooks which only state that Statements should be sent out as soon as practical. As a general rule it normally takes us around 4-5 months to receive a Statement.

Wed 25-Jun-08 05:41 PM by Kevin D

I suppose that an argument *could* be made, where there is a long delay in a SoR being issued, that the Chair's recollection would be such that it couldn't be relied on, given the long passage of time.

Sure there would be a record of proceedings, but even that can't record every comment or event covered in an oral hearing.

The "15 day" guidance is interesting - I wasn't aware of that. That piece of info is potentially very useful..... (even though it is only guidance).

4 - 5 months? I'd have complained by then....and I would have chased every month (if not more often as time went on...)

15 working days would have been pushing it ....but months?

I've been told by a clerk in the past that they give the chair 21 days then chase it.

However we very rarely have to wait more than 8 weeks for a full statement.

Are you saying the cahir DID send the reason but ir's got lost? If so, they may have kept a copy on computer (assuming that is how it was written) and could run off a copy. Some chairs do this on a precautionary basis, as it is by no means unknown for statements to get lost in the post between them and the regional Office.

When the Tribunal Service send a chair a request for a statement the covering letter says it should be done within 14 days - I think I have occasionally been within that, but not that often...

Simon Ennals

Thanks for all your responses.

I have still not received the Statement of Reasons and it is 7 months since the request now. When I first called the Tribunal Service they thought that the Statement had been completed but for some reason not sent out however from further calls it does not look as though the statement was never written.

I have now written a request for leave to appeal to commissioners on ground that there has been an error of law in not providing a written statment of reasons as they are obliged to do and that I feel that her case has a fair chance of success. I also feel that if a statment is written now it could not considered an accurate account of the reasons why they came to their decision at her appeal on 8th January due to the length of time that has passed.

It is normal for us not to receive statements of reasons for 4 months and this has been frustrating. My Colleague is currently having the same difficulty with a statement that she has not received after 6 months from the same appeal centre which has never been written.

CDLA/3908/2001 deals with a statement so late that its accuracy cannot be relied on.

We certainly get nagged if statements are not in the clerks hands within a fortnight.

I think the time limit might be in one of the President's Protocols.

Philip Boyd

There is a suggestion in the Benchbook that if the request is made at the hearing itself, the Chair should provide it within 10 working days, but not otherwise. Bear in mind that your request may itself be delayed in passing it on to a chairman, and that there may be further delays if documents are missing from the file sent out to enable him/her to write the statement. And after all, if documents go missing in the post to claimants and reps, which they undoubtedly do, they can and undoubtedly do equally well go missing in the post to the Tribunals Service and from the Tribunals Service to chairmen.