§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements there will be for pensioners to get documents verified for the purposes of claiming benefits without posting them to regional Pension Service centres. [86883]
§ Mr. McCartney[holding answer 12 December 2002]: We expect that the vast majority of pensioners will continue to prefer to deal with The Pension Service by 768W post as they do now. However where a pensioner requires it we expect to be able to verify documents via the local service.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that women will continue to receive their benefits payment independent of men when the new payment method for benefits is introduced. [87103]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 16 December 2002]: The Department for Work and Pensions is providing customers with information (including letters and leaflets) which clearly sets out the account options as part of the move to payment directly into bank accounts. All customers including women will have the option to open an account in their name only if they want independent access to their benefit payments.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions his Department has had with(a) pensioner groups and (b) poverty groups as part of the project to change payment systems from one of benefit books to direct bank account payments. [87104]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 16 December 2002]: Special interest groups including those that represent pensioner and poverty groups have been involved throughout the development of the move to direct payment. Regular meetings are held with these groups to discuss progress. The most recent meeting was held on 28 November 2002.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research the Department has undertaken into the advantages of moving to paying benefits to bank accounts only; and if he will make a statement. [87107]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 16 December 2002]: Payment directly into accounts is a safe, convenient, more modern and efficient way to pay benefits and pensions. More people are already choosing to be paid this way. The Department conducted research of benefit recipients who were not already paid this way to provide an overview of their characteristics, experiences and attitudes. Some people indicated that they wanted to be able to continue to access their money from post office branches and also to be able to continue to collect it weekly. Both of these options will be available when this payment method becomes the normal way we pay benefits from April 2003.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what(a) research and (b) risk assessment has been undertaken by the Department on the number of customers who do not have bank accounts in which to receive their benefits; and what contingency plans the Department has for those without bank accounts for the payment of benefits. [87108]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 16 December 2002]: Benefit customers are increasingly choosing direct payment as the way they want their benefit or pension paid. Research has shown that around 85 per cent. of benefit customers already have access to bank accounts. The introduction of universal banking services (which consist of two elements: access to a basic bank account and the post office card account) will open up a wider 769W range of banking and financial services. We have always recognised that there will be a small group of people who we cannot pay directly into an account. We will develop an alternate method to pay this group of people.