§ 7. Mr. Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD)What recent discussions he has held with Royal Mail regarding postal services in Scotland. [174434]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mrs. Anne McGuire)I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of earlier today to my hon. Friend Member for Aberdeen, South (Miss Begg).
§ Mr. ReidI believe in freedom of choice, and consider that pensioners should have a fair choice between taking up a Post Office card account or opting for a bank account. However, the script from the customer conversion centre of the Department for Work and Pensions is very biased. For example, the first thing that a pensioner who telephones the centre hears is, "I know that you have asked for a Post Office card account, but…" Staff at the centre then badger and bully pensioners into moving away from using the card account. Will the Minister look at the script and revise it to make its advice fair and unbiased?
§ Mrs. McGuireI am assured by colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions that the advice is neutral and unbiased. However, given the hon. Gentleman's comments, I will have further discussions with those colleagues to see whether the script needs to be refined.