§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of Post Office card accounts. [133171]
§ Mr. Timms[holding answer 20 October 2003]: I understand from the Department for Work and Pensions that as of 3 October 2003, 1.25 million customers had requested a Post Office card account and that the Government now expect the total number of card accounts to exceed the three million operating assumption. It is too early to make a firm prediction of the ultimate number of Post Office card accounts because it will depend on the pattern of customer choices.