§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many giro benefit cheques have been recorded lost in each year since 1979. [371]
§ Mr. HealdThe information is not available in the format requested. Figures are available to show the numbers of requests received by Girobank for giro cheques which have been cashed, to be returned to benefit offices. These requests will be made for a number of reasons:
- 1. A Giro cheque has been reported as not received, stolen, lost etc., and is required for investigation purposes.
- 2. The customer has denied or queried the receipt of the Giro cheque.
- 3. The customer has queried the amount shown on the Giro cheque.
These statistics are only available from 1992–93 and are as follows:
- 1992–93: 697,954
- 1993–94: 493,113
- 1994–95: 444,054
In 1994–95, 82.9 million giro cheques were issued by the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service.