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<p>The Ministry of Justice expects appeal hearings to take place as quickly as possible
and is carrying out a series of initiatives to increase capacity which will help reduce
waiting times for appellants. For appellants in Wansbeck, whose closest tribunal venue
is in Bedlington, if the venue receives a request for an urgent hearing, the appellant
may be offered an alternative venue or a telephone hearing, where appropriate. Furthermore,
triage sessions have been held on Saturdays at the Newcastle venue. This is where
the tribunal panel looks at a series of cases to assess whether a decision can be
made prior to the appellant’s oral hearing date or if further evidence is required
before a decision can be made. This reduces the risk of a case having to be adjourned
on the day of the oral hearing.</p><p> </p><p>Across the Social Security and Child
Support (SSCS) jurisdiction more widely, the Department is currently in the process
of recruiting more judicial office holders. In 2018, 232 medical members and 118 disability-qualified
members were additionally appointed to the SSCS jurisdiction and an extra 129 fee-paid
judges have recently been appointed. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from
112 salaried judges and 170 fee-paid judges being recruited across tribunals more
widely. In addition, HMCTS are also developing a new digital system with the view
to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to
the proceedings.</p>
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