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Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal: Appointment of Deputy Chair

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STATES OF JERSEY

INCOME SUPPORT MEDICAL APPEAL TRIBUNAL: APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY CHAIR

Lodged au Greffe on 4th March 2021 by the Minister for Social Security Earliest date for debate: 20th April 2021

STATES GREFFE

2021  P.14

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

to appoint, in accordance with Article 9 of the Income Support (Jersey) Law 2007, further to a process overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission, the following person as Deputy Chair of the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal for the period stated against their name –

Advocate Barbara Corbett  5 years MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

REPORT

Article 15 of the Income Support (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008 provides for the composition of the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal (ISMAT) and the terms of appointment of its members.

The ISMAT hears appeals on the award of the Impairment Component under the Income Support system and any other decisions made on medical grounds. It may also hear appeals  regarding  care  requirements  for  Home  Carer's  Allowance  and  the  care assessments for Long Term Care. The Tribunal will review all facts placed before and may confirm, reverse or vary the decision made by Determining Officers.

The ISMAT consists of a Chair or a Deputy Chair holding a qualification in law, a medical practitioner and a lay member.

The Medical Practitioners to the ISMAT must be currently licenced to practice medicine with the UK's General Medical Council. The role of the medical practitioner is to help the Tribunal interpret and understand specific clinical information and its relevance or not in the determination.

The Lay member must have experience either through their work, from having cared for someone, or because of their own situation, of the needs of someone with a disability. Panel members use this experience to interpret the information provided and consider whether a reasonable assessment has been made.

This report discusses the appointment of the Deputy Chair.

The Minister is responsible for the constitution of three different Appeal panels, the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal (SSMAT), The Social Security Tribunal (SST) and the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal (ISMAT). The role of Chair and Deputy Chair has been developed across all three Tribunals to ensure consistency of process and decision-making and to further support the development of a Tribunals Service.

The Income Support (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008 provides that members of the Tribunal are appointed by the States on the recommendation of the Minister.

A formal recruitment process overseen by the Appointments Commission, has been undertaken by the Judicial Greffe. Further to this it is proposed, subject to States approval, to appoint Advocate Barbara Corbett as Deputy Chair to the ISMAT for a five-year period from the date of States debate.

Advocate Barbara Corbett is senior and founding partner of Corbett Le Quesne, a specialist family law firm. Prior to coming to Jersey to work in 2007, Advocate Corbett was a family law solicitor and partner at Brethertons in Rugby and before that, a welfare rights officer and Citizen's Advice Bureau advisor. She came to Jersey to set up the Family Law department at litigation firm Hanson Renouf , qualifying as an advocate in 2010. Advocate Corbett is a member of the Jersey Mental Health Review Board panel of advocates and the Jersey Children Panel. She has an LLM Master of Law' in Welfare Law from the University of Leicester and has experience of working with a wide range of family law clients both locally and internationally. She is a qualified mediator, collaborative lawyer, family law arbitrator, a fellow of the International Academy of

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P.14/2021

Family Lawyers, a Law Commissioner and a former member of the English Law Society's Family Law Committee.

Financial and manpower implications

There are no financial or manpower implications regarding the appointment of the Tribunal Deputy Chair.

Related Publications

Votes

Vote: Adopted 20 April 2021

Minutes

Hansard