8.Awarding organisations will be able to appeal to the Tribunal on decisions we make on fining and recovering costs. Further detail on these new arrangements and the Tribunals Service is set out below. In this consultation we ask a specific question on the appeals arrangements (question 6), the results of which we will pass to the Tribunals Service to allow them to finalise their appeals arrangements.

9.The Tribunal is empowered to deal with a wide range of issues which might form the substance of appeals, and to ensure the cases are dealt with in the interest of justice and minimising parties’ costs. The composition of a Tribunal is a matter for the Senior President of Tribunals to decide and may include non- legal members with suitable expertise or experience in an appeal in addition to Tribunal judiciary.

10.The General Regulatory Chamber operates under the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009 which provide flexibility for dealing with individual cases. They may be found at: www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/tribunals/rules.htm . Rule 2 of the General Regulatory Chamber Rules states its overriding objective as being to deal with a case fairly and justly. This includes dealing with a case in ways which are proportionate to the importance of the case, the complexity of the issues and the anticipated costs and resources of the parties. The Rules give the Tribunal judge wide case management powers in order to achieve these objectives.

11.Any party to a case has a right to appeal to the Upper Tribunal on points of law arising from a decision of the First-tier Tribunal. The right may only be exercised with the permission of the First-tier Tribunal or the Upper Tribunal.  Where permission is given, the further appeal would be made to the Upper Tribunal.