HC Deb 07 December 1993 vol 234 cc211-4W
Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what irregularities there have been in the delivery of unemployment benefit giros in the Clydebank and Milngavie area in the past month; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. M Fogden to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 7 December 1993: As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about irregularities in the delivery of Unemployment Benefit giros in the Clydebank and Milngavie area in the past month. This is something which falls within the responsibilities he has delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. There have been two delays in the delivery of Unemployment Benefit giros to the Clydebank and Milngavie area in the past month. The first occurrence was on Friday 19 November and was caused by the failure of Royal Mail to ensure that the giro mail bag was loaded onto the appropriate evening flight from Heathrow Airport. This mail was delivered by first post on Monday 22 November. The second failure was on Friday 26 November and was due to adverse weather conditions (fog) at Heathrow. There were many flight delays on that Friday evening due to the fog. Mail as a consequence had to be transferred onto the Saturday morning flight. As both delays occurred on a Friday, when mail arrived at the sorting/delivery offices on Saturday morning it has missed the first and only delivery of the day. As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment by what method unemployment benefit giros are delivered to the Clydebank and Milngavie area.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. M. Fogden to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 7 December 1993: As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about the method of delivery of Unemployment Benefit giros in the Clydebank and Milngavie area. This is something which falls within the responsibilities he has delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. Unemployment Benefit giros are delivered by Royal Mail via the first class postal system. UB giros are handed to Royal Mail ready for sorting and despatch from the Computer Centre in Reading by noon on the day prior to delivery to the client. From this point on the responsibility for the delivery of Unemployment Benefit giros lies with Royal Mail. Any failure on their part to deliver the girocheques on time are the subject of immediate representation on our part for an investigation as to the clause. As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive Replies to Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the library of the House.

Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to improve the delivery of giros to the Clydebank and Milngavie area.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. M. Fogden to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 7 December 1993: As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write direct to you to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about the steps taken to improve the delivery of unemployment benefit giros in Clydebank and Milngavie area. This is something which falls within the responsibilities he has delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. Strong representations have been made to Royal Mail and through them to their third parties, British Airways and British Midland to ascertain what steps needed to be taken to ensure consistent delivery of girocheques to our Scottish clients. As a consequence, an agreement has been reached with Royal Mail and British Airways for girocheques to be treated as priority security mail. This means that they will be placed on the first available flight out of Heathrow to Scotland rather than await the regular scheduled 18.00 hours flight as had previously been the case. We will be monitoring this new arrangement closely to ensure girocheques are delivered on time to our clients in Scotland. As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what rights are conveyed by the citizens charter in respect of the late or unpredictable payment of benefits.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. M. Fogden to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 7 December 1993: As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about what rights are conveyed by the Citizen's Charter in respect of the late or unpredictable payment of benefits. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. It may be helpful if I explain that the policy of the Employment Service is to issue a prompt replacement whenever a girocheque is reported not received, lost, stolen, or destroyed unless there is reason to doubt the report is genuine. The ES is currently in the process of updating the Jobseeker's Charter, and the above girocheque replacement policy will be reflected within it. As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will place a copy of this letter in the library of the House.