Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many benefit cheques sent out by his Department were (a) lost and (b) wrongly cashed in the last financial year; and what considerations he is giving to changing the method of payment.
Dr. BoysonThe information is not available in the form requested. In the calendar year ending 31 December 1982, the latest date for which statistics are available, 80,026 girocheques out of some 50 million sent out were reported lost, stolen or not received. Of these 49,274 were found to have been cashed: this figure includes 13,012 cases where a replacemet girocheque was issued. Payment by girocheque will continue to be one of the payment methods used by the Department and will apply where payment cannot be made by order book or by credit transfer direct to a bank or building society account.