If the First-tier Tribunal accepts the notice of appeal as valid, it:

• notifies the individual and Social Security Scotland of this decision by letter
• requests a formal response from Social Security Scotland

Social Security Scotland has 31 calendar days from the date of the notification to send a formal response to the First-tier Tribunal (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, para 21(2)).

The response must include all of the following information (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, para 21(3)):

• the name and address of the individual within Social Security Scotland who is preparing the appeal response
• the name and address of Social Security Scotland’s representative. This would normally be a presenting officer.
• a postal or email address where documents can be sent or delivered · the position of Social Security Scotland in relation to the individual’s case
• any views on whether or not the case should be dealt with at a hearing
• any documents that are relevant to the case which have not already been provided to the First-tier Tribunal. (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, para 21(4)

Guidance on completing the appeal response can be found in Operational Guidance.

The First-tier Tribunal sends a copy of the response and any accompanying documents to the individual when it receives them from Social Security Scotland (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, para 21(5)).

The individual can both:

• send written comments
• supply further documents to the First-tier Tribunal in reply to Social Security Scotland’s response

The individual must send these within 31 days of the day when they are presumed to have received the response from the First-tier Tribunal (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, paras 21(6) and 21(7)).

An individual is presumed to have received information from the First-tier Tribunal 48 hours after it is sent to them. This is unless it can be shown that the information was received later. This is the case as long as the First-tier Tribunal sends the information to the individual either:

• by post
• by email

to the last known address that the First-tier Tribunal has for the individual (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, para 1(2)).

When the First-tier Tribunal receives the written comments or further documents from the individual, it must send a copy to Social Security Scotland (The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Social Security Chamber (Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, para 21(7)).