HC Deb 24 February 2003 vol 400 cc200-1W
Norman Lamb

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the issue of personal invitation documents to benefits customers in respect of Post Office card accounts; why the issue of personal invitation documents was delayed from 5 January 2003 until 24 March; and what estimate he has made of the likely impact of the delay on the number of benefits claimants signing up to card accounts in time for the launch on 1 April. [97373]

Malcolm Wicks

[holding answer 11 February 2003]: The Government has made clear that we will only accept the Post Office card account service once further testing and proving has shown that the Post Office can provide a reliable and robust system delivering high levels of customer service. We have been continually reviewing and refining our plans to issue Personal Invitation Documents, and will gradually start to issue them once we are sure the Post Office can deliver the required level of service.

None of this affects people's choices. Customers will choose the account that best meets their needs and circumstances. The arrangements for issuing Personal Invitation Documents will not affect this choice—customers opting for a card account will simply be kept on their current method of payment (order book or giro) until they have been issued a Personal Invitation Document and then successfully opened a card account.

Mr. Robathan

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of how housebound pensioners and others will be able to use a Post Office card account without giving their PIN to a carer. [97669]

Malcolm Wicks

Customers with a Post Office card account can, if they wish, nominate someone else to have permanent access to their account and collect their money for them. In these cases a second card with a separate PIN will be issued for use by the person nominated by the customer. The Post Office card account is not the only option available. Some housebound pensioners may find that a bank account, which may offer services such as phone or Internet banking, may be better to meet their personal needs.