§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the extra administrative cost involved in ensuring that no duplicate payments of the Christmas bonus are paid to those who would qualify under more than one criterion; if he is satisfied this is an appropriate use of his Department's resources; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. OrmeChristmas bonuses are paid in accordance with a strict order of priority of qualifying benefit which enables the Department to prevent duplication without any elaborate system of cross-checking between benefit records Some checks to prevent duplication are necessary in a minority of cases in relation to a few benefits, but it is not possible to separate the administrative costs of these from the total cost of the operation. I do not consider the cost of checking on this small scale inappropriate.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the extra cost of making duplicate payments of the £10 Christmas bonus to those who qualify under more than one of the criteria.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the number of recipients of the Christmas bonus who are under retirement age.