§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2004, from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions,Official Report, column 584W, on direct payment, how many (a) Post Office Card Accounts and (b) bank or building society accounts have (i) been requested for and (ii) are receiving payments of war pensions, broken down by region. [162735]
§ Mr. CaplinThe information is not available in the format requested as data is not recorded in individual regions.
The Veterans Agency records show that as at 15 March the total number of requests for Post Office Card Accounts is 42,187 and for payment into a bank/ building society, 57,953.
The total number of customers who have converted to Post Office Card Accounts is 14,956. The total number of customers who have converted to a bank/building society is 57,947. The total number of war pensions paid by direct payment into an account (including Post Office Card Account) is 213,432, which represents 85.66 per cent. of the payload.