§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which local authorities have yet to implement an agreement with the post office not to redirect housing benefit payments. [101384]
§ Malcolm Wicks90 per cent. of all local authorities now use the Do Not Redirect scheme, which is helping to tackle fraudsters claiming from a false address.
In the written answer given to the hon. Member on 2 May 2002, Official Report, column 982W, it was incorrectly stated, as a result of a clerical error, that 367 local authorities out of 408 were participating in the Do Not Redirect Scheme. The correct figure for the number of local authorities currently participating in the Do Not Redirect scheme is 366 out of 408.
The 42 local authorities listed below currently have not entered into an agreement with Royal Mail Plc.
Argyll and Bute Falkirk North Warwickshire Blaenau Gwent Fenland North West Leicester Bromley (LB) Gateshead Perthshire and Kinross Broxbourne Harborough Rugby Charnwood Inverclyde South Gloucester Dartford Isles of Scilly South Holland Daventry Kettering South Kesteven Dumfries and Galloway Maidstone Southwark (LB) East Dorset Malvern Hills Sutton (LB) East Dunbartonshire Mid-Devon Swindon East Hertfordshire Mid-Suffolk Wandsworth (LB) East Staffordshire Newport West Dunbartonshire Ellesmere Port North Norfolk West Somerset Exeter North Somerset Weymouth and Portland