Benefit Payment Card (Hansard, 20 March 1996)

§ Mr. Heald

[pursuant to his reply, 31 January 1996, c. 947]: I am advised that Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, is writing again to clarify his reply of 31 January 1996.

241W

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Keith Bradley, dated 20 March 1996: I am writing to clarify the information provided to you in my letter of 31 January 1996 in response to your Parliamentary Question. You asked the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to ensure that information currently contained in the pension book will be preserved and improved with the proposed new benefit payment card system with particular reference to (a) a permanent record of pension payments received, (b) details of how the pension is made up. (c) clear information on the amount due and the date available, (d) information on change of circumstances and (e) details of claiming Income Support (IS). The potential service suppliers have been asked to produce a receipt which will only include the following information; details of the type(s) of benefit paid, the amount(s) payable and the due date and the date of payment, but not the date of the last payment(s) made, as indicated in my earlier reply. As I explained in my earlier letter, customers should have no difficulty keeping a record of payment collected from the post office as a receipt will be given and the facility to request a full statement of the benefit account will be retained. This statement will be available on request from the local benefits office. I hope this explains the position and I apologise for any confusion.