§ 65. Mr. Garry Allighanasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will abandon the practice of refunding Postwar Credits to old people in the form of non-negotiable cheques.
§ Mr. Glenvil HallNo, Sir, but if my hon. Friend will send me particulars of any case which he has in mind in which inconvenience has been caused by this method of payment, I shall be pleased to look into it.
§ Mr. AllighanWhilst I will do that, will not the Financial Secretary admit the desirability of issuing these Postwar Credits in a negotiable form, such as money orders?
§ Mr. Glenvil HallThe trouble is that when they are made negotiable in the sense suggested by my hon. Friend it opens the door to fraud. We desire to make these payments, so far as the Revenue is concerned, as secure as possible. This is a practice which has been in existence for many years and about which there have been few complaints.
§ Mr. Sydney SilvermanDoes not my hon. Friend realise that a great many of the people concerned with these particular repayments are very poor people indeed who have no banking facilities, and that, therefore, it follows, that in every such case there must be hardship?
§ Mr. Glenvil HallA note is sent with every cheque indicating to each recipient just how he or she can get it cashed and, as I have said, we have had very few complaints.