§ Mr. Hillasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what further steps he will be taking to reduce the theft of letters containing Girocheques for social security or unemployment benefits.
§ Dr. BoysonResponsibility for safeguarding letters up to the point of their delivery rests with the Post Office. In the year ending December 1983, 99.85 per cent. of the 115.5 million Girocheques issued by the Department of Health and Social Security and the Department of Employment safely reached the intended recipient and of those which were reported as not received only a very small proportion were proved to have gone astray as a result of an irregularity. There are therefore no grounds for considering radical changes in the method of issuing Girocheques. In a few, exceptional cases, where there are known to be security risks at particular addresses arrangements are made for the Girocheques to be handed direct to the beneficiaries rather than delivered by the postal service.