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Dept for Work and Pensions

Answer

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what percentage of (a) child benefit recipients and (b) pensioners have chosen to receive their payments into (i) a normal bank or building society account, (ii) a basic bank account and (iii) a Post Office card account; [134953] (2) how many (a) pensioners and (b) child benefit recipients have been contacted regarding the new direct payment arrangements; how many are yet to be contacted; and what deadline the Government have set for contacting these recipients. [135000] Mr. Pond: Key figures on the progress of conversion to Direct Payment are available in the House of Commons Library, updated every four weeks. It should be noted that for statistical purposes, we cannot differentiate between a current bank account and a basic bank account. The huge number of customers involved in the conversion process, some 13 million, means that the changes are being phased in over a two-year period.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

412 c207W;412 c215W; 134953;135000

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Child benefit Banks Building societies Pensioners Payments Recipients Social security benefits Post office card account Automated credit transfer Payment methods

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk