§ Sir John WheelerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the value is of stolen or missing giro payments from the Department of Social Security for the most recent 12-month period.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe administration of the payment of benefit by girochdque is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will reply to my hon. Friend with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from David Riggs to Sir John Wheeler, dated 30 March 1993.
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is the responsibility of Mr. Michael Bichard to answer questions about relevant operational matters. However, as Mr. Bichard is away at the moment, I am replying on his behalf to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what the value is of stolen or missing girocheque payments from the Department of Social Security for the most recent 12 month period.300WThe most recent period for which figures are available is from April 1991 to March 1992. During this period just over 36 million girocheques were issued by the Department of Social Security of which 86,000 or 0.237% were stolen or missing. Those stolen or missing had a value of £8,156,619.Additionally, the Employment Service acts as our agent in the issue of girocheques to those who are unemployed and claiming income support. However the Employment Service is not able to separately identify these; the figures cannot therefore be included.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report.A copy will also be placed in the Library.