§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what his policy is with regard to 100th birthday greetings; for what reasons he sends them; how his Department verifies the age of those claiming to be centenarians; what the cost is of such verification and delivering such 100th birthday greetings; and if he will make a statement. [61715]
§ Mr. DarlingFollowing the tradition of previous Secretaries of State for Social Security, a congratulatory message is sent to those receiving a Social Security benefit and celebrating their 100th birthday, 105th birthday and subsequent birthdays.
Verification of age is obtained from Departmental records and the cost of this which includes checks on the well being of the claimant is incorporated into normal running costs. The estimated cost of collating the information and sending each telemessage is approximately £7.60. For the period 1 January to 30 November 1998, 3,192 messages were sent.