Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (MHTS): FOI release

Information requested

How many mental health tribunal trials take place on average per week in Scotland?

How much the legal members, medical members, and general members get paid, and how this pay is calculated?

Response

Please find the relevant information below:

1) How many mental health tribunal trials take place on average per week in Scotland?
We confirm that Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (MHTS) cases do not have ‘trials’. However, ‘hearings’ are undertaken, and we have interpreted your request for information as such.

In relation to hearing numbers, these are published yearly in the MHTS’s annual report. All previous MHTS annual reports can be found at the following link, for ease of reference: MHTS - Annual Reports (mhtscotland.gov.uk).

As the information you have requested is largely available from the MHTS website, under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the MHTS website, then please contact me again and I will send you paper copies.

The annual reports set out above will cover hearing numbers up to 2021/22. In relation to hearing numbers for 2022/23, this information will be published annually by the MHTS in the relevant annual report at the end of the financial year.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Accordingly, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

You may, however, wish to contact the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), who provide administrative support to the MHTS and who may be able to help you. Further information on making an FOI request to SCTS is available here: Freedom of Information (scotcourts.gov.uk).

2) How much the legal members, medical members, and general members get paid, and how this pay is calculated?
The current (2022/23) daily fees for legal, medical and general members of the MHTS are set out below:

Type of MHTS member	Daily fee rate (2022/23)
Legal	£472.38
Medical	£427.63
General	£427.63

In relation to how this pay is calculated, we confirm that the Daily Fee Framework for Chairs, Board Members and Public Appointments is used to determine the appropriate Daily Fee and is uprated annually in line with the Public Sector Pay Policy for that year. To ensure consistency and comparability across public bodies, a number of remuneration Tiers have been developed within the Daily Fee Framework. There are different rates for Chairs and Members reflecting the different levels of responsibility. The pay policy expectation is that a Daily Fee should lie within the minimum and maximum of the relevant Tier in the Daily Fee Framework. The Tribunal Tier within the Chair and Members Daily Fee Framework covers the Daily Fees for Scottish Tribunal NDPBs and other tribunal‑type bodies.

We would also draw your attention to the following publications to provide further detail in relation to your request around how this pay is calculated:

1. Public Sector Pay Policy 2022 – 23 - Supporting documents - Public sector pay policy 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
2. Technical Guide – Public Sector Pay Policy 2022 – 23 - Public sector pay policy 2022 to 2023: technical guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) – We consider that you may find Chapter 6 of this technical guide useful.

Again, if you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the web pages detailed above, please contact me and I will send you paper copies.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.