---

27 Jan 2003 : Column 646W—continued

Automated Credit Transfer

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) when each benefit will begin to be paid by automated credit transfer; [91285]

(2) in what sequence state retirement pensions will be transferred to payment by automated credit transfer. [91287]

Mr. McCartney: For some time now the Department has been able to pay benefits into a bank or building society account.

27 Jan 2003 : Column 647W

We have started to write to customers to request their account details as part of the move to direct payment. People will start to be paid this way rather than by paper-based methods from April 2003. We started with some Child Benefit and Veterans Agency customers, and will begin to contact people in receipt of Retirement Pension from the end of January.

The conversion exercise will be completed by 2005.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the migration of each benefit case load to automated credit transfer will take place on a common date. [91286]

Malcolm Wicks: The conversion exercise from paper based methods of payment to direct payment into a bank or building society accounts will be phased. It began in October 2002 when we started to write out to some Veterans Agency and Child Benefit customers to request their account details. Payment into accounts will start from April 2003.

Other benefits will be phased in from January this year and the whole exercise is due to be completed in 2005.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when automated credit transfer invitation letters will be sent out to each type of benefit recipient. [91288]

Malcolm Wicks: The first invitation letters were issued to some Veterans Agency and Child Benefit customers in October 2002. The first invitation letters for Retirement Pension will be issued later this month. The invitation process for customers in receipt of working age benefits will begin from March 2003. We will start to invite other benefit recipients from July 2003.

Benefit Fraud

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on fraud in the payment of benefit through post offices; and what plans he has to protect against fraud when the post office card account is introduced. [88245]

Malcolm Wicks: Paper-based instruments of payment can be vulnerable to fraudulent attack in a number of ways: they can go astray in the post, be lost or stolen, or be manipulated or counterfeited by a determined fraudster. We estimate that total benefit and pension losses from paper-based instruments of payment fraud in 2000–01 were around £77 million.

We have several measures in place to counter fraud, such as the Order Book Control System (OBCS). This makes use of barcode readers in post offices to scan order books that have been printed with a barcode on the front cover. OBCS alerts the post office clerk when a stop notice has been placed on an order book and instructs them to impound the book immediately. Crucially, the stop notice is activated in whatever post office the book is presented for payment and not only in the customer's designated post office. This helps to ensure that order books reported lost or stolen are not cashed, but instead impounded.

27 Jan 2003 : Column 648W

Introducing direct payment into a bank, building society or post office card account as the normal method of benefit payment for the Department's customers will result in significant savings to public funds. It is a much more secure method of payment. Work is on-going to develop a more secure method of payment to replace existing order books and girocheques for those customers who cannot or choose not to be paid by direct payment.

The post office card account is a Post Office product and detailed operational questions are the responsibility of the chief executive for the Post Office. However, the Department's officials will continue to work in close co-operation with the Post Office to ensure that the card account is as secure as possible.

Benefit Payments

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what instructions he has given to his staff who are dealing with the programme for migrating benefit payments from order book to direct bank credit, for responding to benefit recipients who express a wish to receive payment in cash via a Post Office card account. [90653]

Malcolm Wicks: All DWP staff who deal with customers will receive training about Direct Payment. This will highlight to staff the options that are available to customers who are transferring from a girocheque or order book to payment into an account. This will include the option to have payments made into a Post Office card account which can be collected from a Post Office branch.

Benefits (Direct Payment)

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with (a) postmasters and (b) the National Federation of Sub-postmasters on the introduction of direct payment of benefits into bank accounts. [91078]

Malcolm Wicks: Department of Trade and Industry Ministers meet the National Federation of Sub-postmasters (NFSP) on a regular basis. Officials from this Department and the Department of Trade and Industry also meet with the NFSP. The Post Office meet with individual postmasters to discuss the move to Direct Payment.

Benefits Agency (Fraud)

Mr. Heald : To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Benefits Agency staff have been found to have committed fraud in each of the last five years. [92506]

Malcolm Wicks: The figures are an extract from the Departmental annual returns to HM Treasury on internal fraud, and show the number of Benefits Agency staff that have been found to have committed fraud in each year since 1997.

A breakdown by agency for 1997–98 is not available, and the figure given is the total for the then Department of Social Security.

27 Jan 2003 : Column 649W

Benefits agency staff that have been found to have committed fraud in each year since 1997

	Total DSS figure
1997–98	189
1998–99	112
1999–2000	139
2000–01	65
2001–02	128

Although technically defined as fraud cases for HM Treasury reporting purposes, many of the cases above involve little or no financial loss e.g. unauthorised use of software, or trading on official premises.

While these types of case are treated seriously, and disciplinary action inevitably follows, each case is treated individually and penalties therefore vary considerably, from an oral warning to dismissal, prosecution and custodial sentencing.

Cash Savings

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list for each year since 1997 his estimate of the average cash savings held by families on low incomes. [91982]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available. The Department's Family Resources Survey provides information on savings, however data are not available for average amounts of savings because this information is not collected for all respondents.

Child Care Costs

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the basis is for his policy that a couple who are both in receipt of benefits where one receives invalidity or incapacity benefit and the other jobseeker allowance, are not eligible for child care costs when the parent on jobseeker allowance joins the Government New Deal and Training for Work programmes. [88601]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: The Department does not have a policy to refuse help with child care for a couple who are both in receipt of benefits, one on incapacity benefits and the other on jobseeker's allowance, when the latter joins the New Deal. The child care arrangements for people in these circumstances are as follows.

Within the New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus programmes, child care costs can be met where there is a genuine need and the individual would otherwise be unable to participate in a New Deal option or Intensive Activity Period. New Deal Personal Advisers decide on a person's eligibility for help with child care costs based on that individual's particular circumstances.

Under New Deal 50 plus, a person starting work receives financial support through 52 weekly payments (Employment Credit) to help them during the transitional period between benefit and work. It is up to the individual whether they use this money to help meet child care costs.

Jobseekers in Scotland may also be entitled to child care costs when applying for Training for Work. The Training for Work programme is the responsibility of

27 Jan 2003 : Column 650W

the Scottish Executive. It is delivered by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise who have discretion to fund child care costs for participants.

Child Poverty

Mr. Paul Marsden : To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will list for each year since 1997 the change in (a) numbers and (b) percentage of those children taken out of poverty; [91995]

(2) if he will list for each year since 1992 the percentage of children living in households below the poverty line. [91994]

Malcolm Wicks: Poverty is a complex and multi-dimensional problem. We published 'Opportunity for all—Fourth Annual Report' (Cm 5598) in September 2002, which contains information on a range of indicators of poverty for children and young people.

We expect to publish the preliminary conclusions of our consultation on Measuring Child Poverty in spring 2003.

---