Social Security Act 1975

1 (1) The panels referred to in section 97(2) of this Act shall be constituted by the Secretary of State for the whole of Great Britain, and each panel shall relate to such area as the Secretary of State thinks fit, and be composed of such persons as the Secretary of State sees fit to appoint.

(2) Before appointing members to either of the panels, the Secretary of State may take into consideration any recommendations from any local committee representing employers or employed earners or both, or from organisations concerned with the interests of employers or employed earners, including friendly societies or organisations representative of friendly societies.

(3) The members of the panels shall hold office for such period as the Secretary of State may direct:

Provided that the Secretary of State may at any time terminate the appointment of any member of a panel.

(4) So far as practicable, each member of a panel shall be summoned in turn to serve upon a local tribunal:

Provided that—

(a) no member of a panel shall sit upon a local tribunal during the consideration of a case—

(i) in which he appears as the representative of the claimant; or

(ii) by which he is or may be directly affected ; or

(iii) in which he has taken any part as an official of an association, or as an employer, or as a witness, or as a person to whom any question arising thereon has been referred for examination and report in accordance with section 93(3) of this Act or with regulations under section 114(1), or otherwise ;

(b) where the benefit claimed is unemployment benefit, the member chosen from the first panel shall, if practicable, be a representative of employers ; and

(c) in any case in which the claimant is a woman, at least one of the members of the tribunal, if practicable, shall be a woman.