§ Mr. Fortescueasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what use her Department makes of the National Giro for regular payments of salaries and pensions, and for other purposes; and, in view of the under-used capacity of the Giro, whether she will consider using it more.
§ Mr. Harold Walker:All postal payments of unemployment benefit, which number about 3½ million per annum, are now made by Giro order, and arrangements have been made to extend this method of payment. About ½ million of the Department's Vote payments are also made by Giro order each year, including 300,000 weekly salary payments.
My Department is thus well aware of the facilities available from Giro both for financial transactions generally and for payments of salaries and wages. Due regard is paid to economy, efficiency and convenience in considering alternative methods of payment.