§ Mr. Fortescueasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what use his Department makes of the National Giro for regular payments of salaries and pensions, and for other purposes; and, in view of the under-used capacity of the Giro, whether he will consider using it more.
§ Mr. Ennals:The direct crediting of salaries to Giro accounts has been offered to most of the Department's staff and will be available to all staff later this year. In addition, the Department issues about 50 million National Giro pre-authenticated encashable orders a year 212W in payment of social security benefits and some administration expenses. Attention must be paid to economy, efficiency and convenience in considering alternative methods of payment. For instance, retirement pensions can be affected by changes in personal circumstances from time to time and in these circumstances the order book remains the most effective method of administration and payment.