video record
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Description
Decisions made by public officials very often involve the use of discretionary powers but the people on the receiving end of the decisions are not, of course, always satisfied with the way those po...wers are used. They may feel that the decisions are unfair or unreasonable or that as borderline cases they deserve special consideration. For grievances of this kind there is sometimes a right of appeal to a tribunal where the original administrative decision is re-examined and possibly revised. This is the case, for example, with supplementary benefit. In 1978 about sixty thousand appeals (from the three million or so claimants) were heard by Supplementary Benefit Appeal Tribunals - bodies independent of the local offices which make the original decisions about claims. In this programme Mrs Ann Thomas appeals to a Wolverhampton Tribunal against a decision to to allow a special allowance for her diabetic diet. She is represented by a welfare rights advocate, and the programme concludes with the tribunal panel discussing the case and arriving at a decision.
Metadata describing this Open University video programme
Module code and title: D336, "Policies, people and administration"
Item code: D336; 04
First transmission date: 17-05-1980
Published: 1980
Rights Statement:
Restrictions on use:
Duration: 00:23:41
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Producer: Susan Boyd-Bowman
Contributors: David Greengrass; Edith Mills; Alan Robinson; Earle Kessler; Adrian Gaynor-Smith; Betty Deakin; W. G. Wooldridge; Janet Aylisse
Publisher: BBC Open University
Keyword(s): Administration; Decision making; Politics; Social security
Master spool number: 6HT/73500
Production number: FOUD129B
Videofinder number: 281
Available to public: no