Asked by: Fiona O'Donnell (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Post Office card account holders there are in the UK (a) in total and (b) by age profile, broken down by (i) constituent part of the UK and (ii) by parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Steve Webb
The latest figures are:
a) There are 2,856386 Post office card account customers in total.
b) The information is not available in the format requested.
Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:
http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm
Asked by: Fiona O'Donnell (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Post Office card account holders there are who also hold another bank account in the UK, broken down by (a) age profile, (b) constituent part of the UK and (c) parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Steve Webb
Customers using the Post Office card account as a method of payment to receive their benefit or pensions are not obliged to inform the Department that they hold another bank account. For this reason, the information requested is not available.
Asked by: Fiona O'Donnell (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the sum of withdrawals from Post Office card accounts has been in each of the last five years from (a) ATMs and (b) Post Office counters.
Answered by Steve Webb
The sum of withdrawals from Post Office card accounts using either counter services or ATM in each of the last five years is detailed below:
| ATM Withdrawals | Counter Withdrawals | |
| 2009/10 | No ATM service | 84,591,882 |
| 2010/11 | No ATM service | 157,136,419 |
| 2011/12 | 4,871,428 | 144,266,088 |
| 2012/13 | 16,643,172 | 133,030,619 |
| 2013/14 | 17,654,482 | 121,115,527 |
| 2014/15 | 932,543 | 56,190,911 |
Asked by: Fiona O'Donnell (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many balance checks for Post Office card accounts were undertaken in each of the last five years at (a) ATMs and (b) Post Office counters.
Answered by Steve Webb
Balance enquiry figures for Post Office card accounts in the last five years are:
ATM Balance Enquiry's | Counter Balance Enquiry's | |
2009/10 | No ATM service | 1,130,724 |
2010/11 | No ATM service | 12,721,201 |
2011/12 | 4,467,817 | 11,471,310 |
2012/13 | 15,427,714 | 11,095,061 |
2013/14 | 15,994,130 | 9,897,175 |
2014/15 | 8,253,153 | 4,569,642 |
Asked by: Fiona O'Donnell (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what research his Department has undertaken in the last 10 years to examine the needs of Post Office card account holders; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Webb
DWP has not commissioned any research within the last 10 years. However, DWP has worked closely with Post Office Limited implementing service improvements to address changing customer needs. In addition to this, we are currently undertaking small-scale qualitative customer insight sessions to further understand the needs of Universal Credit customers.
Asked by: Fiona O'Donnell (Labour - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will classify motor neurone disease as a terminal illness which qualifies for a fast-track assessment for welfare claims.
Answered by Mike Penning
Claims to attendance allowance, disability living allowance, employment and support allowance, incapacity benefit and personal independence payment from people who are terminally ill, as defined in law, are fast tracked. Claimants are considered to be terminally ill if they have a progressive disease as a result of which they are not expected to live longer than six months. Motor neurone disease is considered to be a progressive disease.