Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what are the relative costs to his Department of a pension payment made by direct credit to a bank or Giro account and by crossed cheque by post;
(2) what is the interest earned by his Department on a pension of average size in the interval between despatch and clearance of a payment by crossed cheque.
§ Mr. OrmePension payments are usually made in cash at post offices but pensioners can request their pension to be paid monthly or quarterly in arrears by means of crossed payable orders drawn on the Paymaster-General's office. The PMG's costs are about 5p an order. Pensions are conditional payments and no facilities exist for direct payment into a bank or Giro account. The Department earns no interest as it is required to imprest the PMG to cover the value of the payable orders as they are issued.