§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out the criteria which determine which recipients of child benefit receive letters inviting them to move to four-weekly payment in arrears. [115852]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 22 March 2000]: The administration of child benefit is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 24 March 2000:
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will set out the criteria which determine which recipients of child benefit receive letters inviting them to move to four-weekly payment in arrears.It may help if I explain that the normal frequency for paying Child Benefit is every four weeks. The only exceptions to this are lone parents, people who received weekly payments prior to 14 March 1982 and customers who are in receipt of Income Support, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance, Family Credit or Disability Working Allowance. However, customers in receipt of Working Families Tax Credit or Disabled Person's Tax Credit which replaced Family Credit and Disability Working Allowance on 5 October 1999 do not qualify for weekly payments.In October 1999, an exercise was taken to identify Child Benefit customers who were receiving their benefit on a weekly basis where it appeared that they should, in fact, have been paid four weekly. Customers selected were issued with a letter which explained their Child Benefit would, when their current order book expired, be paid on a four weekly order book basis unless the customer contended that this would cause hardship.This exercise has been completed and there are no plans to issue any further letters to these customers.I hope this is helpful.