Post Office Card Account (Hansard, 27 October 2003)

§ Mr. Horam
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have opened a Post Office card account since April. [133084]
72WS

§ Mr. Pond
Information is not available in the format requested. Key figures on the progress of conversion to Direct Payment are available in the Library updated every four weeks.

§ Mr. Gordon Marsden
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of customers his Department estimates will open a Post Office card account(a) in total, (b) for each benefit and (c) in each income decile. [133385]

§ Mr. Pond
It is impossible to predict accurately how many customers(a) in total, (b) for each benefit and (c) in each income decile, will eventually open a Post Office card account as this will be based on customer choice. However, the card account is proving very popular with customers. Over one and a quarter million people have already requested a Post Office card account, which suggests that customers are fully aware of the account's availability and how to open one.
Key figures on the progress of conversion to direct payment are available in the Commons Library, updated every four weeks.

§ Mr. Gordon Marsden
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many inquiries about Post Office card accounts have been received; how many applications to open an account have been received; how many accounts have been opened; what the average time taken to process applications is; what steps are being taken to publicise the accounts; which organisations were consulted on the accounts; and how take up of accounts will be monitored. [133390]

§ Mr. Pond
We do not have the information in the format requested.
Key figures on the progress of conversion to direct payment are available in the Library, updated every four weeks.
Information regarding the number of Post Office card account applications received, opened, length of the application process and the development of the card account are matters that fall within the responsibilities of Post Office Ltd. (POL).
The Departments information campaign, to support the move to direct payment, provides customers with all the information they need on all of their "account options", including which accounts can be used at Post Office branches. It will be up to the customers themselves to decide which type of account they wish to have their money paid into, and those people who want to open a Post Office card account will be able to do so.