§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services under what statutory authority he prevents a person who has by law the claim to a pension or a social welfare payment and receives the same for a period of as long as 20 months from drawing these benefits for 11W seven weeks where his Department mislays, or misdirects the Giro cheque; and why the payment is not made pending the stopping and tracing of the mislaid Giro cheque.
§ Mr. OrmeThe Department has the responsibility, under the Social Security Act 1975 and the Claims and Payments Regulations, of paying benefit to those who have established entitlement to benefit. Where a question arises as to whether a person has in fact received benefits, the Department has, in line with its responsibility for the proper administration of the scheme, to establish the facts as far as possible. If a claimant reports that he has not received a Giro cheque recorded as sent to him, he is normally told that replacement will not be considered until seven weeks from the date of issue. This is to give time for the Giro cheque to be traced if it has in fact been cashed. Local offices have discretion to make an immediate replacement if this delay would cause hardship. Replacement would normally follow immediately where it was established that a Giro cheque had been misdirected, or mislaid within the Department, and had not reached the claimant. Giro cheques are encashable at any post office, so that it would not be possible to issue a stop notice when one was missing.