Written question asked by Patsy Calton (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 30 March 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 April 2004. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Monday, 19 April 2004 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what support her Department has offered to Post Office Limited to ensure that benefit recipients can continue to access their entitlement in cash at post offices. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support her Department has offered to Post Office Limited to ensure that benefit recipients can continue to access their entitlement in cash at post offices. [165439] Mr. Timms: The Government has ensured that those people who want to do so can continue to collect their benefits in cash at the post office. The Government invested £450 million in the Horizon project, one of the UK's largest computerisation projects, which has automated every post office in the network. That IT platform has enabled the Post Office to provide its customers with access to a range of banking services at the post office counter. People can now collect their benefits in full in cash at post offices using basic bank accounts, some 20 million current accounts or the Post Office card accounts.

Secondary information