§ Mr. Shersbyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make an estimate of the possible cash savings to his Department that would be achieved in a full year on the assumption that pensions were paid by automated credit transfer to those pensioners who on the latest information available to him have a bank account.
§ Mr. WhitneyOn the information available such a change could produce a saving of some £70 million a year. But so large a shift in the method of payment would involve such fundamental changes to the system that it is not possible to make a realistic estimate of the actual financial effects.