§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people entitled to retirement pensions from the Pensions and Overseas Benefit Directorate of the Department for Work and Pensions reside in the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Montserrat; what arrangements are in place for their payment and whether timely payment of these pensions has been made and is being made. [HL3399]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)To date, there are 152 people residing in Montserrat who are entitled to retirement pension (RP) from the International Pension Centre of the Department for Work and Pensions. One hundred and thirty two of these people receive their RP by order payable; 16 have their RP paid into a UK bank account; and 4 have their RP paid into a bank account in a country other than the UK. Montserrat does not have the available infrastructure to make payments directly to a bank account.
To our knowledge, payments to all of the above customers are, and always have been, issued on time. Postal delays were reported over the Christmas (2002) period due to the additional mail that the postal authorities deal with at that time of year. There were also postal delays in January/February 2003 due to some problems with the contractor responsible for delivering. This created a backlog of post that took until the end of February to clear, so temporary measures were put in place until the problems were rectified.
§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What consultation the Department for Work and Pensions has had with agencies in Montserrat regarding complaints of late payment of pensions to people residing in Montserrat. [HL3400]
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamInternational Pension Centre (IPC) were advised in May and June 2003 of62WA delays in payment to people in Montserrat by Denise Baker, PA/Governor, Montserrat. IPC explained to Denise that normally, to the best of our knowledge, payments to our customers in Montserrat are made on time. Postal delays were reported over the Christmas (2002) period due to the additional mail that the postal authorities deal with at that time of year. There were also postal delays in January/February 2003 due to some problems with the contractor responsible for delivering. This created a backlog of post that took until the end of February to clear, so temporary measures were put in place until the problems were rectified. She was advised that we had appointed a new contractor with effect from May 2003 to deliver our post abroad and that we expected this to greatly improve our service.
§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Department for Work and Pensions has taken or is now considering any action to avoid late payment of pension entitlements to people residing in Montserrat. [HL3401]
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamThe only method of payment available for the issue of retirement pension (RP) to people living in Montserrat is by order payable through the postal system. Direct payment into a bank account is only available if the person has a bank account in the UK or in a country which has the infrastructure to accept payments direct to a bank account, Montserrat does not at present have that infrastructure. To date, we have had confirmation that our new courier service is meeting the delivery target of eight working days to destinations outside of Europe. The post to Montserrat is flown direct from the courier to the postal service in Montserrat. This ensures that any postal delays in other countries are not contributing factors to any delays in Montserrat. There are currently no reported delays in Montserrat.
Although no problems are anticipated, should people in Montserrat suffer any delays in receiving their RP in the future, arrangements can be made to track the payment from when it was issued up to when it is eventually received. This will enable us to confirm where any delay in the delivery process occurs and take any appropriate measures necessary.