§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will meet the Building Societies Association to discuss the imposition of charges on small accounts and the implications for pensioners and other recipients of state benefits paid direct into such accounts.
§ Miss WiddecombeWe have already been in contact with the Building Societies Association (BSA). I understand that the Halifax building society is the only BSA member currently planning to make such charges. People who wish their benefits payments to be made into an account at another building society should contact their local social security office and with details of the new account. The procedure involved is a simple one and the staff there will be happy to help them.