asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, what is (a) the average and (b) the longest time for (i) an appeal against an adjudication officer's decision to be heard by a social security appeal tribunal and (ii) the results of such an appeal to be made known to the appellant, in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

The most recent figures available are for the quarter ended 30 September 1986 when the average time taken for an appeal to be heard in Scotland was 14·6 weeks. Of the appeals heard in the same quarter, the longest time taken for one to be heard was 151·1 weeks. The delay was a result of requests by the claimant for further time to obtain evidence in support of the appeal. Information on the longest time taken for an appeal to be heard where the actual hearing occurred in a quarter prior to quarter ended 30 September 1986 is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.Statistics on the length of time taken to advise an appellant of the results of an appeal to a social security appeal tribunal are not available and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.