§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much has been spent in each of the past five years on the pensioners' Christmas bonus. [122571]
§ Mr. BayleyThe information is in the table.
The Christmas Bonus is not paid exclusively to pensioners. It is also paid to other groups, such as widows and disabled people, who meet the qualifying conditions.
From the available information, none of these losses/ thefts have been incurred by Ministers or special advisers.
Number of laptops or stolen April 1997-May 2000 Date Numbers lost or stolen 1 April 1997 to 31 March 1998 23 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999 17 1 April 1999 to 23 May 2000 12 Total 52